Shinigami Chronicles
by Reizod
Summary: Crossover Fic Soul Eater X Bleach Just after Asura's initial release Maka finds she has a secondary persona that, seems to be entirely uncontrollable. She and Soul begin a search for answers that lead them to one very old shinigami. The one called Ichigo
1. The Man Called Ichigo

I do not intend to garner any revenues from the use of Soul Eater or Bleach and their associated characters.

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Shinigami Chronicles

Act 1: Hollow Eater

Chapter 1 : The Man Called Ichigo

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The thing about having a cell without a window is that even with the knowledge that day will turn to night and night to day it still feels like time has stopped for you. You could even imagine that everything outside is exactly how you remember it. Even better, exactly how you want it to be. But I know better. I know the world is still moving. Still moving on with or without me. Moving on with or without any of us.

It's sad really. All that time, we thought the world needed the Shinigami. And maybe, back when we were still in action, it actually did. After all, who else was going to protect the lost souls of the living realm? Who else could save them from the hollows? That was our purpose. Our reason for life after death.

Who am I kidding? I wasn't really a Shinigami anyway. Of course, neither were any of my friends. And they fought just the same. Just like I did. Maybe because I did. Uraharah did say something to that affect didn't he? That they gained their powers from being near me. Seemed kind of outrageous at the time, and I still don't know everything about how that worked. I mean I never really understood soul science, or whatever the technical term was for it.

Regardless, they couldn't stand still if I didn't. They cared too much, and somehow I didn't see it. Couldn't see it. Couldn't see that they wouldn't stop if I asked. Couldn't see that leaving space under the world that you take on your shoulders, makes those that care about you most, that much more likely to try and take a place at your side.

It was only a matter of time before something happened to them. But then, we were all living on borrowed time. Whether we were aware of it or not, the world was changing. Things were happening that would rewrite our rules and destroy us for breaking the new ones. It wasn't that we didn't care. We were just too busy to recognize it. Too busy fighting our wars against ourselves.

Yeah, against ourselves. Arrancar, Shinigami, and Vaizards, we weren't all that different. I wouldn't have said as much back then but it's really true. Our powers came from the same place, and our techniques were glaringly similar. We just didn't see it. Or we refused to see it. I don't know.

One thing is certain though. I don't belong in the world that exists now. Not sure if I want to either. A world where occult imaginings in legend and literature are real. Where witches, werewolves, and golems walk the earth. A world where the sun rises with a literal smile upon its stitched visage, and the moon rejoinders as it takes the sun's place with a crazed chuckle of its own. This is a lunatic's world if ever there was one. And yet, that's what we let it become.

I'm classified as a pseudo-kishin now. At least that's what Sid says. He comes down every five months and brings me just enough food to keep me going. Usually has a lot to say about current affairs. Almost like he's got no one else he can tell. Then again, he did remind me a bit of the soldiers in Soi Fong's group. Just the way he carried himself. He was definitely wet-works and special ops. Probably had a lot of secrets tucked away in that mind of his. I wonder how much he knows about back then.

He was the one to escort me to my cell in a mystically protected facility under Death Valley. It's only a few miles out from Death City, the new home for the protectors of souls. Meisters. I don't know much about them, other than that they exist to stop kishin from developing. Also that Sid and at least half the population of Death City are meisters as well. Makes sense when you consider that that's the place where they're all trained.

Shibusen is the name of the school where they become competent fighters and operatives. They learn how to fight against the strange and exotic beings that now walk this plain of existence. I don't exactly know how they do it, but they've done a good job so far, so I'm not going to intervene just yet. I learned my lesson during the Dark Times: power without knowledge is foolishness. Took quite awhile for me to figure that one out. To think, it was an arrancar that told me that.

Like I said before, they keep me on a strict five month meal plan. Keeps me drained and somewhat lethargic, but it's just enough to keep me alive. Death apparently has some use for me. Or at least Sid said as much. Not sure how much of that I believe, although, of the many things that arose during the Dark Times, Death was probably one of the wiliest of them. At the very least he figured out how to stop the hollow problem. That was a feat I never thought possible. Granted I never thought to think of that particular option, but I'm getting off the subject. I didn't believe it when Sid said that Death had a use for me. So you could say I was more than a little distrusting when Sid arrived two months early.

[-]

"Special day today" he said through the cell door's eye slit. "You get a full meal this time."

"What's the occasion?" Ichigo asked from the dark corner of the cell he was sitting in. "Don't tell me you're getting soft."

"I was never one to disobey my superiors." Sid stated proudly "That's the kind of man I was."

"Was?" Ichigo chuckled "What, you're a rebel now?"

"No" Sid replied matter-of-factly as he opened the cell door, revealing himself. He smiled as Ichigo's eyes widened at the sickly blue tinge that Sid's skin had. The flak jacket and army pants that Sid wore did little to hide that fact. "I'm dead." he said with a laugh.

Ichigo frowned disgustedly "Not sure if I wanna' eat that food now."

"That's too bad." Sid replied with a shake of his head. "Death said you liked it spicy. But I guess if you're not hungry..."

Ichigo opened his mouth to retort, but his stomach beat him to the punch, growling horrendously. He sighed, frustrated. "I guess food is food."

The dead man nodded. "That's the way." With this, Sid entered the cell, bringing the meal along with him. On the plate was a mixture of sausage, chicken and fish, along with various vegetables and rice sprinkled throughout, all covered in a, (Ichigo assumed) spicy broth. It was certainly a step up from the stale bread and water he usually got. This, of course, was a suspicious development, However, Ichigo was rather famished. He scooped a portion of it up with a spoon that Sid had provided, and took a bite. The orange-haired swordsman raised an eyebrow at the spicy prickle that attacked his taste-buds and marched on the back of his throat.

"This is good stuff" Ichigo said through a full mouth, already moving for his second spoonful. "But why this, and why now?"

Sid grinned. "Well, Death said spicy and I said jambalaya. Southern cooking always had a special place in my stomach.

Ichigo frowned "That's not what I was asking."

Sid crossed his arms "You're going to be taking a little walk with me." He flicked a thumb towards the door. "To say hello to our friend the sun."

Ichigo stopped eating, giving Sid a hard look. "No."

Sid chuckled. "Does it creep you out that much?"

"You know why I'm not going back out there." Ichigo replied, "It's not the sun that I care about."

Sid's tone suddenly became darkly serious "But the people. You care about them right?"

Ichigo scowled. "What do you want?"

"It's the hollows." The dead man said in a dark tone. "They could be returning."

Ichigo stood at the word "hollows" "I thought there weren't anymore of them left."

Sid shook his head "It's not leftovers that we're dealing with here. Technically, I'm not even sure if we can call it a hollow yet."

Ichigo's brow furrowed at that statement. "Then what do you need me for?"

"To make sure we never have to call it one." Sid smiled "So how about that walk?"

[-]

Even after all these years, Ichigo's gigai was still in working order, a testament to Uraharah's workmanship. Also a product of said workmanship was its accuracy in its conveyance of the pangs and general discomforts of a normal human body. It was an esoteric quality Ichigo was generally glad for, all though at times he would feel otherwise. Right now, as he stepped out into the light of the desert sun, an oddly detailed jeep just a few meters away from him, he was very much feeling otherwise.

He took a seat in the passenger seat of the dusty green jeep as Sid got into the driver's side. Painted on the jeep's side was an oddly stylized skull, that had a fairly cartoony look to it. Despite this, the vehicle had quite the efficient engine, as shown by the the sudden acceleration that followed when Sid stepped on the gas. In seconds they were barreling across a rather flat section of the desert, with arid cracked ground stretching as far as the eye could see. It made for quite the bumpy ride, but Sid showed no signs of slowing down.

"Man, its bright out here." Ichigo said, squinting his eyes as they adjusted to the desert daylight. He glared at the sun, using his hand to block out its blazing gaze. "I swear that sun's laughing at me."

Sid chuckled "It laughs at everybody, Ichigo. As long as the souls of this world aren't in jeopardy the sun will laugh for them. I'd only worry if it were cringing, or worse shrieking." Sid's expression became grim. "That's when we've really got trouble."

Ichigo gave Sid an incredulous glare. "It can shriek?"

Sid shook his head "I don't know for certain, but I don't ever want to find out."

"Right." Ichigo sighed "I almost forgot just how screwed up everything got after the Winter War."

Sid nodded "Well, we've at least reached a form of equilibrium now."

"With the meisters, right?" Ichigo replied "Can't say I like the idea of them eating souls. Even if it's only on orders and only with pre-kishin material. There's a lot of risk in it."

"It's what we have to do now." Sid said somberly. "Ever since we lost Soul Society, there hasn't been a safe place to take the lost souls to."

"So instead, you make sure that there's nothing that can kill the lost souls." Ichigo frowned "I still don't like it."

"It's never about what we like—" Sid began

"Just what needs to be done." Ichigo finished. "I know all about that. Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"No" Sid frowned knowingly "It doesn't."

For long moment all that could be heard was the jeep's engine and its wheels as the kicked up dust from the cracked ground beneath them. Something about the ambience was at once piercing and quieting, as Sid focused his eyes on the horizon ahead. Ichigo could only wonder what was going through the dead-man's mind. However, curious as he was, Ichigo very much disliked the ambient silence that had fallen and decided to strike up a different conversation.

"So there's nowhere for the dead to go now, right?" Ichigo asked "Doesn't it get crowded down here with all the souls wandering around?"

Sid frowned thoughtfully "You'd think it would, but it's strange. After awhile they just disappear."

A puzzled expression formed upon Ichigo's visage "Just 'poof', they're gone?"

"Well, I don't know if they go 'poof'" Sid said with a chuckle "But there aren't any traces left after the disappearances." Sid shook his head. "I'm not sure what to make of it."

"Is anyone?"

Sid shrugged "No one I know."

Ichigo sighed, staring up into the still laughing sun. He shook his head "It's just as screwed up as I remember it."

"Glad we didn't disappoint." Sid replied with a grin.

[-]

More to come…

Tell me, was it enjoyable? Or perhaps not.

Either way, let me know.


	2. Enter Death City

I do not intend to garner any revenues from the usage of either the Bleach or Soul Eater Characters

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Shinigami Chronicles

Act 1: Hollow Eater

Chapter 2: Enter Death City

[-][-]

Dark leafless trees reached their angular tendrils into the night sky, their multitudinous appendages winding and weaving about each other in an angry yet static quarrel. The bare branches obscured the starlit blackness that hung mute above them, the moon only barely illuminating the young girl who stood in this dark staid night.

Dead and dying leaves lay at her feet, heralding her every step into this threadbare forest. The dry rustling whispers of these sundry fronds were the only sounds that graced the young girl's ears as she drifted from tree to tree. Her gate was careful as she crept through this darkened wood, her emerald eyes sweeping ever vigilantly across the tree laden landscape. Those eyes held no fear in them. She wouldn't let them. Not so long as she was a protector. Not so long as she was deemed responsible for this world's souls' well-being. Not so long as she was a meister.

She held no weapon on this night. Indeed, her partner was nowhere to be seen. Her hands felt somewhat awkward without her demon weapon in hand. That was why she kept them clenched as she forayed further into the moonlit shadows of the forest, unsure of how she'd arrived here in the first place.

She had no memory of traveling to here, though for some reason it felt familiar. Not in the sense that she'd been here before. No. More like she had never left. Yet for its familiarity, she could not draw a reference to any past experience.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew from behind her. Whirling about, the young meister raised her clenched fists, narrowing her gaze as she took a ready stance.

But the only target she found was a bleak all consuming darkness, whose end was nowhere in sight.

And in moments this was all there was to be seen, as the young meister was devoured by the insatiate darkness.

[-]

Maka opened her eyes to the darkened walls of her room, a weary frown upon her visage. It was that same dream again. Had to be the third time this week. The moon, the trees, the leaves, the wind, and then darkness. It didn't make much sense to her. Then again, it was a dream. They never really had to make sense. Still, there was something about this one. It felt... important somehow.

She shook her head. Ever since Medusa's attack on Shibusen, Maka had been slightly on edge. Strangely, it wasn't entirely due to the fact that Asura, a powerful and unpredictable kishin was released into the world on that day. It worried her that he was running amok, growing stronger by the instant, but at the moment, he wasn't doing anything abjectly threatening. So, until he showed his face once more, Maka wouldn't allow herself to dwell upon his existence. There were other more pressing matters that needed to be attended to.

Among these other matters, was Chrona. Timid and underconfident, the black blooded technician had been less than enthusiastic about staying in one of Shibusen's holding cells. Maka worried that her shy friend's less than outgoing disposition would hinder efforts at bringing her into the fold.

Yet another matter that was on her mind was her current state where the black blood was concerned. According, to Nygus, all traces of the blood had been eliminated, leaving Maka in a healthy, stable state of mind. This was also what she said about Soul, Maka's demon scythe partner. And it was true, the red goblin that had surfaced during her and Soul's first encounter with the blood hadn't raised his voice since the fight with Chrona. At least, that's what Soul said. He could've been hiding it behind his "cool" bravado just to keep Maka from worrying. She sighed as she threw the covers aside. Soul's tendency to internalize his problems was probably one of the most irritating points of his personality.

Going through her morning routine in a simple, efficient manner, the young meister was showered and dressed in minutes. Signature pigtails in place, she was ready to face the day. She had opted to forgo her usual garb of a yellow over sweater, plaid skirt and black overcoat. At some point during her time at Shibusen those clothes had come be her work uniform. If ever she wore those she'd have a hard time thinking of anything but her duties as a meister. Under normal circumstances, this was preferable, but, for the moment, she wanted to think of unserious things. At least as unserious as her disposition would allow.

So instead, a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt were what she wore under her cooking apron as she went about the business of starting her weekend, making a breakfast of German style sausage, Brotchen and eggs over easy. She relished the meaty smell of the sausage as it mixed with that of the rye based Brotchen rolls. A satisfied smile developed upon her visage as she set the breakfast implements on the kitchen table, silently thanking her mother for the recipe.

It was one of the few things left to Maka by her mother after the divorce. A few recipes, some books, the Witch Hunter technique, and a fond memory or two. Perhaps if her father, Spirit hadn't been so free with himself… No. It was too early in the morning for such thoughts. Perhaps later, but not now. Right now, she needed to find someone to share this surplus of breakfast with.

It was time to wake Soul up. Not that she needed to, but this had also become an almost inalienable part of her routine. Along with this came another newer act that had somehow managed to weasel its way into the morning ritual: the prediction. There was a fifty-fifty chance that Blair, the cat witch, had snuck in overnight. She was something of a free-spirit, and didn't seem to understand the concept of tact, or modesty. Especially modesty. Of course, being a cat, she was naked most of the time so it made some sense, but that didn't make it any less grating to see her suffocating Soul with her "pumpkins". Maka never quite understood Blair's fixation upon pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns, but had long since decided it was probably best that she didn't. Blair was part cat after all. Far be it for Maka understand the ruminations of a feline.

She was actually a little disappointed that Blair wasn't present when she opened the door to Soul's room. A little bout of righteous fury would've been therapeutic. At the very least it would've distracted her a little. Instead, she saw only Soul's sleeping form, his mouth oscillating as if it were chewing on something. The sight brought an amused smile to Maka's face. A smile that was quickly dashed as the slumbering demon weapon mumbled something about Blair being delicious. A rather unfortunate development considering Maka still had a frying pan on hand.

Suffice to say, Soul's morning wasn't going to start quite as pleasantly as Maka's did.

[-]

Ichigo stood scratching his head in the middle of a four-way street, his eyes moving from path to path trying to figure out which street was the one he wanted. He was feeling slightly out of sorts, although this was only partially due to the fact that he was lost.

Ichigo was also reacclimating himself with the feeling of having his soul's power under restraint. Between the soul limiter armbands, anklets and gloves Sid had provided for Ichigo to wear, there was no way for any noticeable amounts of energy to leak out. Add on to all that a wavelength masking head band and Ichigo's soul was feeling quite cramped. He'd have been averse to wearing all this stuff if it weren't for the fact that it was keeping him incognito.

Apparently there were several other powerful beings gathering in Death City. Sid called them Scythes, if Ichigo remembered correctly. Must've been a kind of high level meister or something. Whatever they were these guys were very well trained, and would've picked up on something like Ichigo's hollowish wavelength fairly quickly. However, with the combined strength of the soul limiters, Ichigo's soul's energies were compressed enough to have their wavelength masked. To anyone who tried to analyze his soul he looked like any normal guy who had the capacity for soul energy manipulation. A common occurrence in death city, and an asset to Ichigo's anonymity.

Honestly, he didn't much care for the secrecy. It was layers of secrecy that allowed Aizen to make his power play and steal the Hogyoku all those years ago. There were a lot of people who almost died during that whole mess, and Ichigo often wondered what would've happened if even one of the many layers of bureaucratic intrigue had simply not existed. However, he understood that any organization that large had to have its wheels within wheels lest it fall apart at the seams. Shibusen was probably the same if slightly smaller in scale. Also, he had to shoulder some of the blame for a lot of the lives that were risked. He was quite the brash soul back then.

Ichigo frowned as he looked from path to path once more, still undecided about which one he should take. Sid had set him loose in Death City to get a feel for its layout, and the general vibe that souls had here. So far, all Ichigo could really say about the place was that it was confusing as hell.

That's when he noticed it. Something soft and fuzzy was pressing against his leg. Looking down, Ichigo found a modestly sized cat asking for his attention. Kneeling down to its level, he ran a hand across its velvety fur.

"You lost too?" he asked the cat.

It mewed in response, moving in front of the orange haired man and sitting on its haunches.

"Not sure how much help I can be." Ichigo replied scratching his head. Then he noticed a bell hanging from the nape of its neck "Got an owner, huh?"

At this the cat shook its head. Ichigo opened his mouth to say something but stopped. Shaking one's head was generally a human gesture and one that was correct for the question he'd just asked. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have cared but, he'd seen this once before. His eyes narrowed.

"Yoruichi?"

The cat shook its head once more. Ichigo frowned, still unconvinced. "If you're not her, then who are you?"

To this the cat simply tilted its head. He wasn't quite sure but it looked like it was slightly amused. Ichigo leaned in closer "Who are you?" he repeated.

It shook its head once more. Ichigo could've sworn it was stifling a giggle.

What was he thinking? Yoruichi was the only talking cat he'd ever known of, and she'd died years ago. He'd never heard tell of another one anyway. Not to mention what it must've looked like, him asking probing questions of an ordinary cat. Or at least one trained to shake its head.

He candidly scanned the area for any passers by. It seemed that no one had been there to see that questionable display. Standing up, Ichigo dusted himself off and went back to the business of selecting a path. However, he was interrupted by a tug on his right pant leg. He looked down to see the cat biting at the cuff of his khakis.

"What?" he said kneeling down to its level. "What do you want from me?"

In response, the cat turned down one of the paths and started on its way. It stopped after a few paces glancing over its shoulder at Ichigo. The orange haired man smirked. That cat wanted him to follow it. Kind of odd, but then maybe he was looking too far into this. It could've just been a really smart cat. There was probably a fish market or something down the path it was taking. Well, he was getting hungry anyway. If there was a deli down there it'd be worth the walk. Besides which he needed somewhere to go.

"Alright cat. Lead the way." Ichigo said as he fell into step behind the feline.

[-]

Ichigo had been right on the money about where the cat was going, although he hadn't expected a free meal out of it. The fish store owner was apparently rather fond of the dark furred feline and was quite happy to see it again. When he found out Ichigo was new in town, he whipped up a "welcome to Shibusen" fried fish sandwich, saying that the old swordsman would make a great addition to the alumni. A fortunate assumption considering that that was the alibi Sid had provided Ichigo with.

Taking the sandwich and bidding the salesman farewell, Ichigo found a small stone bench near the side of the cobblestone street and took the opportunity to rest his legs. A smile played across his face as he bit into the sandwich. It was almost like he was back in Soul Society again. In a lull between battles waiting for the next problem to spring up. Taking the time to enjoy a seldom found peace that was becoming rarer by the second. If only one of the others were here. Orihime, Rukia, Chad, Ishida, hell even Kon. Any one of them would've been a sight for sore eyes.

He took one last bite of his sandwich as he cast his gaze back towards the cat, which had found a perch beside him on the bench. It was currently licking its paws clean.

"Bet you've got a lot of friends around here." Ichigo said with a smile. "At least enough of them to keep you alive."

The cat mewed in response, continuing to clean its paws. Ichigo nodded, scratching behind its ears.

"Don't ever forget you've got them." Ichigo murmured, "You never know when you won't have them anymore."

A cold hand fell upon Ichigo's shoulder, as a masculine voice replied "Wise words."

Ichigo looked back to see Sid standing over him, a nostalgic look present in the dead-man's eyes.

Ichigo smirked "Ah, that's just common sense."

"I was never one to pass up on a nugget of wisdom, however common it may be." Sid said with a grin "That's the kind of man I was."

Ichigo chuckled "Guess I'd better check-in, huh?"

Sid nodded, beckoning for Ichigo to follow him. "Right this way, my friend."

As the dead-man and the once substitute shinigami started on their way, the cat watched with thinly veiled interest. "Nyah?" it murmured in a female voice "Blair's curious."

[-][-][-][-]

More to come…

Was it enjoyable? Or perhaps not? Either way, inquiring minds want to know

A special thanks to Zaru for the original idea, and acting as a consultant for the plot.

And also to readers like you.


	3. Into The Dark

I do not intend to garner any revenues from the usage of either the Bleach or Soul Eater Characters

[-][-]

Shinigami Chronicles

Act 1: Hollow Eater

Chapter 3: Into The Dark

[-][-]

Maka watched the sun set in the west from the window of her and Soul's Death City apartment. Despite her efforts to take her mind off of the situation, her thoughts wouldn't leave the dreams and her state of sanity alone. She'd found herself speaking to Soul on the matter once more. Her troubled emerald eyes were rather serious as she turned her gaze to Soul who was lazily sprawled across a sofa just beneath the window sill.

"Are you sure?" Maka asked incredulously "You're not having weird dreams or are you just not telling me?"

Soul sighed, leaning his head back on the armrest of the sofa. "No 'Mama Maka' I'm not having strange dreams." He lifted his head just enough to put his hands underneath it. "Besides, they weren't dreams. More like out of body experiences. Red always had a knack for interrupting me at the worst times." He crossed his legs, lounging to stretch his back out. "I thought we'd agreed this wasn't anything to worry about. At least not now after that whole Asura thing."

Maka, leaning on the sill of a large window that lay just behind the sofa, left her perch just long enough to cross her arms and resume gazing at the reds and oranges that comprised this day's sunset.

"Well, yes" Maka replied frowning. "I'd wanted to focus on other matters."

"But?"

"…I had the dream again."

"The same one you had the night after Asura's release?"

"The same." Maka replied with introspective eyes. "Three times in the same week." She shook her head "I don't know why, but it feels like it's going to happen again tonight."

"So you'll have a nightmare." Soul said with a shrug. "You'll lose a couple 'Z's' and be okay in the morning." Soul smiled. "I mean, I know your chest's underdeveloped, but you're not a kid Maka."

This comment received prompt retribution as Maka executed her patented "Maka Chop" slamming Soul's forehead with the spine of an unabridged version of _The Caine Mutiny_. It was a dry dark sailor's novel, but the captain's teetering sanity kept the story somewhat interesting. Incidentally, Maka hadn't made much progress with the book in recent weeks.

"Regardless of how developed I am, Soul, you know as well as I do the possible implications here."

Soul rolled his eyes. "Maka, you're not going insane." He sat up and rapped a knuckle on her head. "You've probably got the most steel plated mind of any of us. I mean, you played psychoanalyst for Chrona in the middle of a fight for crying out loud." He grinned "If anyone's got to worry, it's me."

Maka gave her partner an incredulous stare. Soul chuckled "I've got to work with you when you're distracted by this stuff. I mean, that's less Maka Chops sure, but come on. You're my meister Maka. If you're not on your game, I'm not on mine."

"I know that, Soul" Maka said as she moved Soul's legs off the sofa and took a seat. This garnered no visible reaction from Soul, who, if anything was slightly amused by it. Maka was generally a polite person, but where Soul was involved she was more… direct. A fact that Soul didn't mind so much. After all it was just for him and those close to her. That made it kinda special in its own way. Made him feel special.

Maka clasped her hands in her lap as she let her back fall to the sofa. "I know. If I'm going to be of any use in the coming months I'll need to be able to exercise both body and mind at their fullest." She cast a sidelong glance at Soul "And that's exactly what this is about."

Soul didn't give an immediate reply to this statement, instead grabbing the inside of his mouth with his index finger. It was a habit he'd developed to curb his appetite for souls as a demon weapon. These days the cravings were mild at worst. Easily bested by Maka's "Makaness". However, even with the act no longer having any real use anymore it had turned out to be a hard habit to drop. He tugged at the inside of his cheek introspectively, eventually releasing it as he said "You're really worried about this, huh?"

"Yeah" Maka unclasped her hands "Because I don't know what this is. And it feels like I should."

"Hey, things like this aren't easy to figure out. I bet even Kid'd have troubles with a dream as vague as yours. Don't knock yourself for having a hard time with it."

"Did you Soul?"

"Did I what?"

"Have a hard time figuring out the goblin?"

Soul fidgeted slightly "Well, yeah. I still don't know what the guy wanted. He knew what I wanted though. Might've known it better than I did." Soul sat up, taking a more traditional position on the sofa. "You think that's what this is?" Soul began to tug at the inside of his cheek again only to release it rather quickly. "I don't know Maka. There's no one else in the dream. Unless something in a recent one…?"

Maka shook her head "No, just the darkness and the wind. But it feels like I should know that forest from somewhere."

"Then I guess there's only one way to figure this out." Soul smirked. "Dream some more. If it is something to worry about, then we'll know before too long."

Maka frowned "By then it might be too late."

"Not as long as you've got me it won't." Soul said as he jabbed Maka's shoulder "It'd be uncool if I couldn't get you out of a mess like that."

Maka smiled warmly as she stood. "Thanks Soul."

Soul watched as she made her way up the stairwell to her room. "No problem."

[-]

"So let me get this straight." Ichigo asked with a dark expression on his visage, "Instead of destroying this 'prehollow material' that's somewhere in this city, you want me to put the reigns on it?"

The old shinigami regarded his dead friend from one side of a hardwood table. Ichigo's posture was somewhat relaxed as he sat back in his chair arms propped up behind his head. Sid took a more rigid position, sitting up and crossing his arms as he eyed the orange haired swordsman.

Sid nodded "That about sums it up."

"So I'm guessing you couldn't find anyone else for the job" Ichigo frowned "I'm more of a fighter than a teacher you know."

Sid shrugged, arms still crossed "That may be the case, but you're the only one left with hands on experience in this area. So you're going to have to do it."

Ichigo sighed "I guess it's better than what I thought you'd brought me in here for." He allowed himself a small chuckle, leaning forward to put his hands on the table. "Thought it was gonna be 'search and destroy' or something like that."

"It may come to that." Sid replied.

"Yeah." Ichigo said soberly "I know."

"And if it does." Sid continued in a serious tone "Will you be able to take the necessary measures?"

Ichigo frowned, sitting up straight. "You mean kill it?"

"If that's what needs to be done." Sid answered tonelessly. "Then yes."

There was a short pause before Ichigo nodded "Yeah I can do that."

Sid's eyes narrowed. "If I were to tell you that the subjects in question have yet to breach adulthood, would you still be willing?"

Ichigo scowled biting the inside of his cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, bringing a hand to his forehead in thought. A long silence followed as Sid waited for Ichigo's answer.

The seconds passed like eons as the orange-haired swordsman considered the question. A younger him would've been quicker to answer. But a younger him didn't have the experience of almost killing his own comrades on multiple occasions. It was for this reason that he'd allowed himself to be incarcerated and for this reason that he settled upon his answer. He let his hand fall to the table, unveiling a dark staid expression.

"Yes." Ichigo said "If the training doesn't work I'll kill the student myself. That's how Urahara would've done it. And that's how I'm going to do it."

Sid nodded. "Ah, Urahara. You've mentioned him a couple times."

"Yeah. My first true teacher." Ichigo said with a slight air of nostalgia "His methods were harsh, and I almost died several times during his training. But he was probably the best teacher I ever had, next to Yoruichi. Urahara made it very clear that he knew what I could become. That he knew what could happen if I did. He was always ready with my last rites even though I was his proverbial student."

Sid frowned. "You think you can be that cold?"

Ichigo shook his head "No one could ever reach that man's level of sub-zero. I don't think I'll be the first to do it either. But I can try to follow his example. Besides" Ichigo said as he opened his eyes, revealing the darkness of their resolve. "If this fails, it won't be a kid that I'm killing."

Sid gave a solemn nod "That's the way."

"So, who am I training?" Ichigo asked, sitting back in his chair.

Sid's stance became less rigid "You'll know soon enough."

Ichigo rolled his eyes at the statement. "Oh, now you get cagey on me."

"Don't worry Ichigo." Sid said with a grin "You'll know exactly who they are when we run them through the extra curricular analysis."

Ichigo cocked an eyebrow at the statement. "Extra what?"

Sid chuckled "You'll see."

As Sid and Ichigo concluded their meeting and made their way out of the building, a pair of curious amethyst eyes watched the men intently. "Nyah" Blair murmured from her hiding place in the shadows beneath a storage drawer at the far side of the room. "Mr. orange-hair sounds like an interesting one." She purred, her curiosity thoroughly peaked. "He should be fun to play with."

[-]

Maka frowned as she lay her head down to sleep. Even before she closed her eyes she knew it was going to happen. She could feel it. So it came as no surprise to her when she returned to the moonlit forest after slipping into a deep sleep.

It was the same as before. The leaf barren trees still reached towards the starlit heavens, locked in a writhing static struggle. Their weaving bark encrusted tendrils still cast their winding shadows across the leaf covered ground. And the air was dead still, as it had been before.

Maka's eye's narrowed as she drew her emerald gaze across the landscape. Nothing had changed, but something seemed out of place. The shadows were a bit too well defined. As though they were under the effects of a flood light or something.

Then she realized it. The moon wasn't smiling. Under normal circumstances, regardless of the situation, the moon always smiled, though on particularly grisly occasions it would bleed though it's crazed grin. Some said that that wild and vaguely brutal smile spoke volumes of the nature of the night. Of the unseen movements, and dangers that lurked under the cloak of darkness. Of threats only concealed by one's willingness to look away and forget. Yet, no matter how much one believed, that such things didn't exist, they and the moon would still be there, grinning madly.

This night's moon, however, had no such expression. Indeed it hadn't the capacity to do so for it had no face. Stranger still was its shape. Not a crescent as she'd grown accustomed to, but a full white glowing orb was what hung in the star speckled blackness above. It was brighter for its lack of a face, but the impassiveness of this moon was almost unnerving. Its emotionless light gave the night an oddly lifeless glow, as though the entire world had become ghostly and undead.

Suddenly the wind began blow, lightly billowing the leaves on the forest's floor. Maka watched the leaves warily as they gently swirled about her, lilting listlessly in the air. Their wandering waltz hastened as the wind accelerated, sweeping the languid fronds into a windswept ballet.

A part of her wanted to absorb this dance. To drink it in. It was strangely soothing. Welcoming. Calming. And yet…

The young meister took a ready stance, steeling her resolve as she once more swept her gaze across the forest. Moonlight glanced off the dancing leaves, ever briefly illuminating the shadows that stretched into the woods beyond. Anything that could sway her emotions that much was dangerous. She had to be careful not to let her guard down.

It was like Stein had said in one of his classes regarding mental combat: "If you find yourself in paradise, then you've already lost, for the cunning foe fights with neither blade nor gun. No, he fights with whatever you fear least or love most."

Then she saw it. Something glinting ever so briefly in the glancing moonlight. But as she moved to approach it, the wind suddenly stopped, returning the leaves to the ground from whence they came. A great darkness stretched forth from the woods ahead of her, expanding and engulfing tree after tree in a slow progression.

Maka, however, was undaunted by the approaching darkness, striding forth into its endless confines. Even as the remainder of the forest disappeared into its infinite embrace, leaving nothing for the moon above to cast its light upon, she continued forward, alert, and wary of ambush. Then something hard and cold brushed against her hand. Instinctively she grasped it.

As soon as she did so the moon was instantly consumed by the insatiate darkness. Once again bleak nothingness reigned supreme. And once again, that all consuming nothingness devoured her.

[-][-][-][-]

More to come…

Was it enjoyable? Or perhaps not? Either way, inquiring minds want to know

Trying out the cross-over section as the location for this story. Let me know if where you would prefer it to be.

A special thanks to Zaru for the original idea, and acting as a consultant for the plot.

And also to readers like you.


	4. Souls at Midnight

I do not intend to garner any revenues from the use of Soul Eater or Bleach and their associated characters.

[-][-]

Shinigami Chronicles

Act 1: Hollow Eater

Chapter 4: Souls at Midnight

[-][-]

Ichigo frowned as he wandered the moonlit streets of Death City, idly taking in the stone masonry of the market district as he made his way towards his temporary abode on the outskirts of the city. The cool breeze of the desert night wafted through the cramped throughways and streets, rustling various banners and hanging implements that had been left behind after the stores had closed. The sound of the banners billowing in the wind underscored the chimes of the more metallic implements dancing in night air, giving a lonely meditative anticipation to the moon born shadows of this night.

It reminded Ichigo of his return to Hueco Mundo just before the Dark Times began and those bittersweet memories of the last time he and all of his friends fought together as a unit. He still remembered the windswept "nights" in the endless twilight of that world, defined only by the times when the hollows weren't active. Times that weren't often due to the massive amounts of hollows that had surfaced there during that time. It was a life threatening situation to be sure. No matter how powerful a man was, he could be overwhelmed by sheer numbers if the enemy force was large enough. And with Soul Society preoccupied with other matters in the world of the living, no reinforcements were coming anytime soon. Even so the eight of them had been able to survive that adventure together. After that day, events transpired that would pull them all away from each other. For that reason, Ichigo was torn between disparity and fondness for those days of friendship and comradery under never ending twilight. If only that comradery had been as everlasting…

Ichigo continued his nostalgic meanderings, leaving the wind chimes of the market place for the empty whispers of the residential district, the light of the old fashioned street lamps adding their glow to that of the ever grinning crescent moon above. It was as Ichigo wandered past one of these street lamps that he noticed something moving at the corner of his vision.

Whirling on instinct to face his supposed attacker, Ichigo centered his weight and braced for an attack. However, all he found were the empty front steps of one of the many houses that lined the street. Ichigo did not lower his guard however, quickly continuing the motion of his turn just in time to see something dark and ragged surging towards him.

He narrowly dodged the attacker, lunging to the side and landing in a combat roll. As Ichigo finished the roll he got a small glimpse of the ragged thing before it rushed him again. It was a deathly haggard figure that stood before him, clad in the tattered remains of a pair of trousers, a shirt and vest. A myriad of black chains, ropes and locks hung limply from its thick grey-brown arms and legs. It was continuously shifting between a bipedal and quadrupedal gate as it lurched its way towards its adversary.

The discoloration of the body suggested that this was a zombie or at least something like one. Although, it didn't resemble Sid in intelligence or physical tendencies so Ichigo couldn't be sure. However, it was clear that the thing at least intended to hurt him and that was enough to get Ichigo into fight mode.

As such Ichigo was quite ready when the thing attacked once more. Handily dodging the possible zombie's second lunge with a quick jump to the side, Ichigo grasped his right forearm just under his limiter bands. He narrowed his gaze slightly, keeping a wary eye on his dark adversary, while focusing the energies of his spirit into his right hand.

Black crimson energies flowed from Ichigo's hand swirling together to form a rather large samurai sword not unlike the odachi used in certain Japanese shrines. As Ichigo grasped the manifesting blade with both hands he took a moment to set himself, lowering the hilt to waist level, Ichigo let the blade reach far behind him as he lowered his center of gravity. It'd been awhile since he'd had to use the technique of spirit manifestation. It was originally developed by Yuruichi as a means of allowing shinigami to fight hollows without exiting their gigai. A somewhat impractical technique in the days before the Winter War, but almost essential to effective combat during and after the Dark Times. The gigai provided protection against some of the stranger forms of attacks that surfaced during the Dark Times.

The blade had slightly more weight to it than he remembered from the last time he'd used this technique of physical manifestation. More than likely due to the limiters he was wearing.

"Don't know what you are." Ichigo said with a dark frown as the thing turned to face him once more. "But I'm pretty sure I can't let you live." He adjusted his grip on the hilt of his blade slightly, cracking his neck in the process. "No hard feelings."

With that, Ichigo charged the beast, stepping into a turning horizontal swing. The thing barely managed to avoid the attack, leaping backwards whilst maintaining an upright posture.

Allowing the weight of his oversized blade to pull him Ichigo continued his charge forward, spinning into another turning slice that followed the same direction of his last cut. The thing managed to avoid this attack as well, falling forward onto all fours and ducking under the attack. In almost the same motion, the thing launched itself up at Ichigo, its right arm reared back to hammer the orange haired swordsman.

As this happened, Ichigo allowed his weapon's momentum to take him once more, moving with the curve of his slash to pivot out of the way of his adversary's attack. This lead into a spinning backhand bash with the back of the blade, catching the attacking beast squarely in the stomach. The thing hissed in anger and surprise as it was thrown to the ground, arms and legs scrambling to right itself even before it landed.

So Ichigo was unsurprised when it rebounded immediately after hitting the ground, rushing in at him on two legs, arms reared back to strike with all its might.

Ichigo couldn't help but smile slightly at the beasts incessant attacks. It reminded him of himself back in the day. Always biting off more than he could chew.

Ichigo stepped into the beast's advance, jamming the hilt of his sword into the beast's stomach before it could make its next attack. Then, while it was stunned from the hilt to its gut, Ichigo continued the motion of his hilt strike, throwing his weight into an upward swing that cut the wretched thing in twain.

The possible zombie made naught a cry as its two halves fell to the ground, its many chains hitting the ground with clanks of varying harmonics. He watched it warily for a few seconds. Though he was no expert on the mythical beings that wandered the earth in this age of meisters, Ichigo was fairly certain that the thing was dead.

Sure enough the two halves of the thing remained still under Ichigo's wary gaze, though it appeared that something else was forming out of the two halves. A luminescent grey mist was flowing out of the beast's remains, slowly coalescing into a small sphere no larger than Ichigo's palm.

Freed from the confines of its grotesque outer shell the misty sphere floated lazily in the cool air of the desert night.

"huh." Ichigo murmured as he dematerialized his sword, pulling its black crimson energies back into his body. "Guess that means you really are dead."

Just to be sure Ichigo watched the spherical soul warily for a few moments, waiting for a response. When it was clear that there would be none, Ichigo inched closer to the grey soul with inspecting eyes.

This was definitely a closed soul from its appearance. At least that's what he remembered from Mizuiro's description of them back in the day. Mizuiro, Keigo and Tastuki had worked under Urahara gathering research materials for his soul experiments after the conclusion of the winter war. It was through them that Ichigo learned the basic difference between closed and open souls, though he'd never had the time to really sit down and learn everything about them.

In short terms a closed soul had a protective outershell whilst open souls didn't, making the closed type more durable than its counterpart, and the open type more versatile.

Beyond that he didn't know much about closed souls. Then again, he'd never really had the time to sit down and talk to about them in detail. Or rather, he'd never really thought to at the time. Yet another thing he would live to regret. He seemed to have amassed a lot of those kinds of things.

The orange haired swordsman frowned. "So what do I do about you now?"

Soul purification would be a moot point without anywhere safe to send it and even if there was somewhere to send it, he wasn't sure what effect the shinigami techniques of purification would have on such a soul. There weren't any gigai nearby to temporarily shove the soul into. There was the option of taking it into his own gigai temporarily, but he was cramped inside of his body as it was. The chances of crushing the compact soul with his spirit pressure were quite high with all of the restrained soul energy he had inside. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be any other options.

Grasping the soul with his right hand, Ichigo performed the same motion he did to summon his sword. The soul was slowly sucked into Ichigo's gigai until there was not even a hint of its grey mist left.

"This'll have to do until I can find someone who'll know what to do with you." Ichigo murmured as he continued on his way. The soul, now inside of Ichigo's gigai, made no reply, remaining silent for the entirety of the trip back to Ichigo's temporary abode.

[-]

Soul frowned as he lay in his bed, eyes towards the ceiling. It was rather uncool of him to be like this, especially with an extracurricular mission coming up soon. However, he was more than a little worried for Maka.

"Of course you're worried" an all too familiar voice replied "You've got no power except for what she brings out of you. You really are a tool."

"Shut up Red" Soul muttered "I don't have any business with you. Not anymore"

"If that were true you wouldn't have lied about my presence."

Soul sat up in his bed the shadows of the moon's glow hiding his annoyed expression. "Maka's got enough to worry about without knowing that her demon weapon's still got a goblin in the back door of his mind."

"Say what you want, but you can't fool me." Red replied "I know you still need it. It's in your blood. Been there since the beginning. Waiting for you to accept it. That's why I'm here."

Soul scowled "I don't need anything from you Red."

"That's not the way I see it, kid. Your eyes are telling me you need everything I can give."

"I don't need your black blood."

"Who said anything about that stuff?" Red replied in an aghast tone. "That is merely a means to an end. To find what you need, or rather what you _want _you're going to need more than that."

"I know what I want" Soul replied "And it doesn't involve you."

"You think so?" Red replied smugly. "Then what do you want, kid?"

"I want Maka to succeed." He said firmly "She needs that more than anything."

Red laughed "So selfless. I'd be in awe if it weren't all ruse toward your own betterment"

Soul frowned. "Say what you want Red. I'm not changing my stripes"

Red chuckled, "Nor will you have to. Maka will do enough changing for the both of you."

At this Soul stiffened. "What's that supposed to mean?"

For a brief moment the red goblin appeared in front of Soul, a perverse grin taking up almost the entirety of his visage. "I won't even have to lift a finger to make you lost to her, Soul."

Then, as briefly as he'd materialized, the goblin disappeared, leaving Soul alone once more.

For a long moment, all was silent, as Soul mulled over what had just been said. He sighed, returning his head to the relative comfort of his pillow, allowing his eyes to droop closed.

"Even if that's true" he murmured as he drifted off to sleep. "She'll never be lost to me."

[-][-][-][-]

Bonus Excerpt

Notes From Days Long Past:

On Souls

[-][-][-][-]

August 9th 2015

For the sake of convenience I shall gather what knowledge I have divined about souls here.

In this world there are two kinds of souls: open and closed. Although these souls have their specific subdivisions inside of their types, however, there are fundamental similarities that unify them into one of these two classes.

The open soul is the original type of soul that has existed since before the Shinigami were first active. This is a soul type that mimics the human form when outside of a host body. As such it is quite versatile in the ways it can interact with things of both the physical and spiritual nature. It can generally behave like a human does in the ningenkai, walking, running, talking, and general things of that nature. On top of this, the open soul is capable of manipulating the energies that comprise it to either to release a raw form of it or to manifest items that represent parts of the soul's psyche. Such is the manner that Shinigami, Vaizards, and Arrancar manifest their weapons and attacks.

The disadvantages of the open soul come from its relatively unprotected state when outside of a host body. The open soul, though capable of being strengthened, is very destructible, and can be destabilized by attacks that utilize spirit energy.

It should be noted that this type of soul is also quite susceptible to direct attacks on the psyche. Other than the thin outer layer that makes up the soul's spiritual body, There isn't much separating the mental faculties of the open spirit from the energies that comprise its body. As such, corruption of these energies will result in corruption of the soul itself. A corrupt soul cannot perform the autonomous actions that need to be taken to hold its energies together when outside of its host body, thereby causing the soul body to begin to destabilize. If the destabilization reaches a critical level, the soul will disperse entirely.

Note: Need to test the limits of soul restabilization. Is apparently possible according to Slayel's research. The credibility of his research notes is more than a little suspect due to erratic the nature of his now dated and incomplete "experiments".

The closed soul is a far more resilient soul type, which first appeared two years after the Winter War. It differs considerably in appearance from the open soul, in that its appearance is generally that of a sphere with small elements of the soul's more pronounced traits appearing on its outer shell. As suggested by the nature of the soul's form, this type of soul isn't quite as versatile as the open soul is when outside of the soul's body. Indeed, most closed souls enter a form of stasis when removed from their host body.

However, the closed soul is far more useful when inside of a host body. Depending on the type of closed soul, the energies of the soul can be used to change the properties of the host body or the properties of things within close proximity of the host body. So far, it appears that the easiest of things for the closed soul to affect from within its host are other closed souls. Just what this entails has yet to be defined.

Also notable is the sheer resilience of the closed soul. Dispersion of the energies that comprise these souls is rather difficult. The compressed layering of the soul resembles something like the rings on the inside of a tree, varying from soul to soul, and offering quite a bit of protection due to this. The bonds that hold the energies of these souls together are much stronger than those of the open soul, holding together under much duress. According to some sources they can survive being eaten by Hollows. This particular notion has yet to be tested.

Research regarding the propensities of closed souls has come to a halt due to the loss of souls on hand to various stress tests and experiments. As it stands there are only two subjects left. More will have to be acquired if the research is to be completed.

Note: Urahara has been hoarding closed type test subjects as of late. Will have to find a way acquire some of his wares. No doubt his conscience is holding back his research regarding them. Quite a shame that such rare materials will go to waste. Unless of course, someone more suited to this sort of research were to acquire them.

To future generations who would examine these pages, please note that the writer is Kurosotchi Mayuri, and only he. I will not have other second rate scientists taking credit for my brilliance.

[-][-][-][-]

More to come…

Was it enjoyable?

Ye or Ne let me know

Until then…


	5. Pound Cakes and Strawberries

I do not own Bleach or Soul Eater, nor do I intend to garner any revenues from the use of their characters and universes.

[-][-]

Shinigami Chronicles

Act 1: Hollow Eater

Chapter 5: Pound Cakes and Strawberries

[-][-]

It was a gorgeous morning. The sun was grinning in the east, with no clouds to block out its halcyon light. The air was crisp with the last remnants of the previous night's cold, yet to be heated into its arid afternoon state. The city outside was quiet save for the few vendors who opened their stores at sun-up, the sounds of their shoe-steps and various methods of travel only accentuating the promising atmosphere.

The morning was, in a word, "cool".

Despite the hours Soul had spent lying in bed awake the night before, he'd managed to still get a good night's sleep. It was a little trick he'd picked up from hanging out with his brother on nights before performances. It was the same trick he used to keep his cool when the chips were down: Just roll with whatever's got you worried. No matter what, even it looks like you've got no chance, just smile and take it in stride. It might not solve the problem, but it'll sure aggravate the cause of it.

Soul smiled to himself. Knowing Red, there was probably something to what he'd said the night before. Still, it wasn't going to do Soul any good to worry about it now. For now, he would just enjoy the morning. When whatever Red was referring to unveiled itself Soul would deal with it then.

Soul yawned and stretched his arms above his head clasping his hands together as he leaned forward to stretch out his back. He responded the sun's manic grin with a more subdued lopsided smirk of his own, swinging his legs out of the bed and standing tall before reaching down to stretch his legs out. After which went about the business of getting dressed, having showered the night before.

It wasn't until Soul was in the process of donning his prized leather jacket that he realized that there was something different about this morning's routine. He hurriedly thrust his arms into the sleeves of the jacket as he turned to face the door. He waited for about thirty seconds before raising an eyebrow at the situation.

"Maka, hasn't made her grand appearance yet." Soul murmured. Odd. Though Maka wasn't a slave to her routines like Death the Kid was, she didn't often break them. Then again, she could be waiting on the other side of the door with a preemptive "Maka Chop" at the ready. He wouldn't put it past her, although he had no idea what she could be angry about.

"Hey, Maka!" Soul called out to the door. "If you're there, I'm sorry about whatever it is I'm supposed to be sorry about." Crap, that didn't come out right. "I mean, uh, sorry about that…thing I did. Whatever it was."

Soul sighed. Even if he had come up with a convincing apology, she probably wouldn't have answered. Not if she was in the throes of a righteous fury. Best to man up and take whatever it was she had to dish out.

"I'm coming out." Soul called as he went to open the door. He braced himself for a book to the head as he opened the door, readying his legs for a quick side or back step. It would probably infuriate Maka even more, but he couldn't pass up the chance to see Maka's angry pout. That always brightened his day, in even the most adverse of conditions.

Unfortunately, no book came when Soul thrust the door open, his eyes vigilant for any sign of attack. No, Maka was nowhere to be seen. Soul frowned disappointedly. He'd had his best smirk ready for it and everything.

"Guess I hadn't ticked her off after all." He muttered with a somewhat bored expression. "Oh well." He started on his way towards the stairs when he noticed something else: there was no scent of breakfast in the air. Maka never missed out on a hearty early morning breakfast. That was just how she did things. Then again, a change of pace every now and then wasn't bad.

Soul continued to think this until he got down to the empty and pristine kitchen, no noticeable signs of Maka's presence in sight.

Soul frowned. Was she still in her room? That was not like her at all. She always woke up before the sun did. She hardly ever slept in, unless she was sick, or tired from the day before.

"She hadn't said anything about feeling sick." Soul murmured as he made his way back up the stairs "But there were the dreams…"

Soul quickened his gait, half jogging to Maka's room as his bored expression slid into a darkly worried one. He slowed to a more casual power walk as he approached his meister's door shaking his head a couple times to loosen up. Worrying wasn't going to do him any good. Whatever was happening, he'd deal with it when he found out what was going on.

He knocked on the door lightly as he called "Maka? You in there?"

No response.

Thankfully, Maka had left the door open. Soul smiled privately to himself as he let himself in. Maka left the door open at night. That little tidbit of information could come in handy.

Putting thoughts of April Fool's day pranks and Christmas surprises to the side, Soul found Maka's room to be more of a mess than he'd originally expected, with a myriad of books, lined papers, writing utensils and various articles of clothing strewn about the place.

"What a mess." Soul muttered as he entered the room. Maka was generally a neat and tidy person. Her room being in this state set off more than a few alarms in young demon weapon's head. Something was definitely wrong here.

Soul wore a more serious expression as he approached Maka's bed, treading lightly so as not to step on any of the many objects that covered the floor. There was a lump under the bed covers, suggesting a body was there, but it only took one touch for Soul to realize the nature of the body in the bed.

"Pillows" Soul murmured as he lifted the covers to be sure. "Not cool." He looked over at the bedside window which, he now noticed, was open. Looking out from it, he saw a myriad of paths that Maka could've taken if she had indeed left through there.

"Not cool at all."

[-]

Ichigo gave the morning sun a dangerous glare as he locked the door to his temporary home in Death City's suburbia. Last night's sleep was less than pleasant, considering that he still had to wear the limiter bands and anklets while he was in Death City. At the very least he was able to expel the soul he'd found the night before, so it was less uncomfortable than it could've been. However, after taking the soul back into his body so he could hand it off to Sid before the extra-curricular exam , Ichigo was looking forward to shedding his limiters when everything was done more and more.

The walk to Shibusen was fairly uneventful, as Ichigo did his best to be cordial to everyone who said hello, and got used to his current persona as one of Shibusen's new alumni. He got lost a few times but found that the populace of Death City to be quite willing to oblige when it came to directions.

When he arrived at the steps to the meisters' school, following the lead of the fish vendor he'd met the day before, Ichigo marveled at the sight that stood before him. The Shibusen school, built like some kind of skull-ridden multilevel cake, was both childish and disturbing at the same time. On closer inspection, it appeared that the cake-like trappings were more of a shell than an extension of the building they adorned, a darker more traditional form of European stone-masonry bristling underneath its youth inspired outer shell.

Ichigo could only wonder what prompted the castle's redesign.

Those ruminations would have to wait, however, as Ichigo caught sight of Sid waiting out in front of the school, a serious expression apparent on his visage. He raised an eyebrow. "You look frazzled."

Ichigo gave the dead man a slightly irritated glare in return. "What makes you say that?"

"Rings under your eyes" Sid noted. "Never a good sign."

"Didn't sleep well." Ichigo replied, the irritation slowly seeping out of his expression. He refrained from mentioning the fact that he got lost on the way to the school. No need for any more indignities this morning. "Am I late?"

"Yeah," Sid replied with a small chuckle, "but you at least got here before your students did."

"Huh." Ichigo murmured. "Know where they are?"

"I know where one of them is." Sid said simply "Haven't been able to get him to move a muscle."  
Sid thrust his hands into his pockets sheepishly. "Chrona's still not used to zombies apparently."

"Imagine that." Ichigo said blandly

"If Maka were here, things would be a little different." Sid said, bringing a beleaguered hand to his brow. "Suffice to say, Chona would at least be willing to come out of his hiding place." Sid let his hand droop down in front of his eyes. "As it stands, I'm going to have to go with plan B."

"Plan B?"

"You meet Maka on your own and let her introduce you to Chrona, while I call in some reserves to take care of the assignment."

"To take care of…" Ichigo repeated "This was an actual mission?"

"That's right." Sid replied "I figured a real field situation would be the best introduction."

"What kind of field situation are we talking about here?"

"Don't worry" Sid answered with a placating gesture. "I wouldn't send them into anything too serious with a man they didn't know. This was just a simple recon mission."

"Recon?"

"Strange things happening in a village in the Czech Republic. Rampaging golems and like that."

Ichigo frowned "Rampaging golems is a simple recon mission?"

"It's not as bad as it sounds."

"Sure it isn't" Ichigo replied blandly "And there's a flaw in your plan Sid."

"Yeah?" Sid asked "What's that?"

"I have no idea who Maka is." Ichigo crossed his arms "Or where to find her for that matter."

Sid raised his index finger in a pausing gesture as he fumbled through his pants pockets for something. A moment later, he produced a picture, paper, and a pencil.

"That's Maka" Sid said as he flicked the picture at Ichigo.

Ichigo moved to snatch the picture out of the air but missed as the photo careened around his hand and into his face. Pulling the picture off his visage, Ichigo held it at arms length for examination. With two large blonde ponytails, green eyes, and a cheerful grin, this Maka had quite the innocent unassuming look to her.

"Don't mistake the innocence for weakness." Sid said without looking up from his paper and pencil as he jotted an address down on the page. "She can be fierce when she needs to be."

"Uh-huh" Ichigo murmured as he folded the picture and stuffed it into his pocket. "You keep pictures of all of your students on hand?"

"Just the probable targets." Sid said simply as he finished writing on the paper. He moved to flick it at Ichigo as well, only to have Ichigo step in to preemptively snatch the paper out of Sid's hand. Sid continued as though nothing had happened. "Impromptu briefings are easier with pictures."

"I see." Ichigo said darkly as he read the address. "Everyone's fair game huh?"

"I never flinched from my duty, no matter how grizzly" Sid replied "That's the kind of man I was."

"Grizzly duty, Grizzly mistakes." Ichigo murmured shaking his head as he folded the page and placed it in his pocket as well. "By the way, I ran into something last night."

Sid, who was turning to leave, threw Ichigo a questioning look. "What kind of thing?"

"Dunno." Ichigo said simply "It moved like a monkey, and seemed pretty feral."

"Vaguely humanoid?"

"Yeah"

"Probably a corrupted soul." Sid said bringing a hand to his chin "What did you do with the remains?"

"You just assume I killed it?" Ichigo balked

"Didn't you?"

To this Ichigo rolled his eyes and snorted.

"Thought so."

"Didn't destroy its soul though." Ichigo said, holding out his hand. He loosened visibly as he let the grey soul appear in the palm of his hand. "Didn't know what to do with it."

"That's… different." Sid said as he eyed the soul appraisingly.

"What?" Ichigo asked

"Probably nothing" Sid replied frowning as he quickly absorbed the soul into his own hand. "Still, it wouldn't hurt to have Stein look at this."

"What's wrong with it?" Ichigo asked darkly

"I'll tell you at some other time." Sid said as he hurried toward Shibusen's main entrance. "Right now, I need to make sure our boys in Euro Branch investigate the village while the intel's still good."

"Hold on, I—" Ichigo started, but stopped abruptly as he realized Sid was a fair bit faster than he'd thought. The man had already disappeared into the confines of Shibusen, his rushed footsteps existing only in memory as Ichigo gave a dejected sigh. "—don't know where Maka's address is…" Ichigo finished, trailing off into a dejected mumble.

It wouldn't be a problem normally, but Death City's street nomenclature was nonsensical at best, with the few streets that did have numbers winding about so much as to make it impossible for them to follow any sort of mathematical order.

He pulled the picture and the address out of his pocket, examining them once more. "768 Guillotine Way, Death Bed Apartments, Apartment 147. That sounds inviting" Ichigo muttered under his breath "Blonde hair. Green eyes. Innocence." He frowned. "Poor kid. Probably has no idea what she's gotten into." He brought a hand to his chin "Hell, _I_'_m _not even sure, beyond the fact that she has hollow potential." Ichigo glared back at the main entrance to Shibusen. "You could've at least told me her symptoms Sid."

With that, Ichigo turned away from the meister school, focusing on the maze of a city that now lay before him. There was no way he was going to find the apartment within the day without help. However, he had met at least one person he could ask for directions without seeming to conspicuous. Now if only he could remember where that guy's shop was.

A thoughtful scowl appeared upon Ichigo's visage as he tried to remember. However, he found that he couldn't concentrate as something was tugging incessantly at his pant leg.

Looking down, Ichigo found the cause of his distraction: the cat he'd met when he first arrived in town.

Ichigo's scowl faded into an easy smile as he said "I don't have any food for you."

The cat shook its head in a no gesture as it sat down on it haunches and favored Ichigo with an inquisitive gaze.

"So it's not food this time, huh?" Ichigo murmured. "Well, I'm kinda busy at the moment."

To this the cat mewed cutely, tilting its head in an innocent, inquisitive manner.

Ichigo sighed good-naturedly as he knelt down to the cat's level. "Well, if you must know." He said as he held the picture where the cat could see it. "I'm looking for this girl. Maka Albarn. Word has it she needs my help."

For a moment that the cat just stared at the picture with what appeared to be an appraising gaze. Then, without warning, it lunged forward and snatched the picture right out Ichigo's hand, and bounded off into the city.

"Hey!" Ichigo exclaimed as he scrambled after the clue bearing cat "Come back here with that!"

The cat, however, paid him no heed.

[-]

Soul now stood just outside of a small deli in Death City's market district, his worry masked by his usual bored expression as he scanned the streets. He hadn't found any trace of her anywhere in the city. Even in her usual haunts, no one had seen her out and about. The deadline for the extra-curricular assignment had long since passed, and that worried Soul more than anything. Maka was never one to miss a chance at extra training. She was usually the one looking for Soul when it looked like they were about to be late.

"Maka, where are you?" Soul muttered as he turned his gaze up to the cloudless sky. "You're making me worry about you." He began to go over all the places he'd searched for her again in his head, but was interrupted when a loud voice cut through his introspective silence.

"Behold mere mortals! The glorious man above men, master of masters, and god among gods has arrived!"

Soul smirked not bothering to look in the direction of the call "Hey, Black Star."

"Yo!" Black Star cried as he performed a front flip down from the roof of the deli to landing heavily on his feet for dramatic effect. He was grinning madly as he dusted himself off. "Looking up when you should be looking around, there, buddy?"

"I know Maka's not here." Soul replied as he gave Black Star their customary fist bump greeting. "I checked. Twice."

"Well check a third time. It's not like you've got anything better to do."

"Speaking of better things to do, didn't you have some training scheduled today?"

"And abandon you in this time of need? That would be blasphemous."

"Blasphemous?"

"Well of course. Gods don't leave their friends in the lurch, not when they need 'em"

"Uh-huh" Soul muttered. Truth be told, he was more surprised that Black Star had used the term "blasphemous". "Black Star, do you even know why I'm looking for her?"

"Nah, but you asked me if I'd seen her, and my god sense said you were really worried about her."

A smug smile formed on Soul's visage. "Tsubaki said I was worried, didn't she?"

This earned Soul a hard jab in the shoulder as Black Star replied with a grin "Alright, so I'm still working on the god sense thing. Make no mistake, I'll become the master of that too. Just you watch." Black Star then threw his arm across Soul's shoulder in a carousing manner. "So are you worried, man? I mean it takes a lot to get you ruffled. Gotta be something serious if _you're_ worried."

"Nah." Soul replied as he gave Black Star the easiest grin he could muster. "I'm just a little nervous. That's all."

Black Star's grin lessened "About?"

"Well, I was kinda late for the extra-curricular stuff we were gonna do today."

"How late?"

Soul shook his head.

"You mean you didn't even get to go? That's balls man."

"So I've been trying to find her so I can apologize…"

"Say no more." Black Star said with a devilish grin as he released Soul's shoulder and stepped in front of him. Then, before Soul could react Black Star threw a powerful right hook to Soul's stomach.

This garnered a strained "oof" from Soul as he clutched his stomach and gasped for the wind that was knocked out of him.

"Tell Maka I'm sorry for holding back, but I wanted to leave something for her to 'Maka Chop'"

"You're too kind." Soul wheezed as he braced himself on one of the outer walls of the deli.

"Yeah, I am." Black Star's grin got larger, if that was even possible "But that's what friends are for."

The young ninja technician then turned away from Soul and launched himself high into the air towards the roof tops "And now I take my leave." he cried as he bounded up the various implements of the apartment district to reach their roofs. As soon as reached them, he struck a gallant pose. "So that others might bask in my glory."

In the time it took for Soul to recover from Black Star's surprise attack, the young ninja had already crested the horizon, headed towards the market district at blinding speeds.

Soul smiled as he slowly picked himself up off the side of the deli. Even holding back, that boisterous little ninja was vicious. Still he usually didn't pay enough attention to people to be perceptive with them. Tsubaki on the other hand, seemed to always know, even if she hardly ever said so. Seemed like all she ever did was keep an eye out for everyone else. Odds were even on whether or not she'd note how deep Soul's worry was when Black Star returned to her. It was almost a given that she knew and was just being as unobtrusive as possible.

Soul considered all this as he found his usual seat in the deli and ordered his usual soft bread beef sandwich. It was a sandwich whose doughy consistency, meaty filling, and tactful use of seasoning came close to the tepidly mild yet filling texture and taste of a soul. Although it was arguably the pound cake that came with it that really did the job. Served cold, it had a thicker more solid consistency to it, and a subtle side flavor that changed with each week. The two combined were a fair enough substitute to mollify Soul's hunger for the real thing.

As he waited for the order to arrive, Soul began mull over his findings again, searching for anything that could point to Maka's whereabouts. He became quite engrossed in his thoughts, tugging at his cheek introspectively as he pondered. He became so engrossed that he almost didn't notice the commotion outside the deli as an orange haired man barreled past the display window. Almost. It was the loud cry of "Dammit, stop running away!" that caught Soul's attention.

He looked up just in time to see the door to the deli swing inward with a purple cat hanging on to the handle of the door. The small feline quickly flung itself off the door landing lightly on the ground and fervently scanning the room.

No mistaking it, that was Blair. Soul could only wonder what that cat witch had gotten herself into this time. No doubt whatever she was carrying in her mouth had something to do with it. Maybe if he played it cool she wouldn't notice he was here.

Sadly, this was not the case, as Blair almost immediately found Soul slouching on a stool near the far end of the deli. She was practically a blur of purple motion as she rushed forward and threw herself into Soul's lap.

Soul gave Blair an annoyed look. "Whatever it is that's happening, Blair, I don't want to know." Soul said as he moved to shoo her off his lap. He stopped when he saw that she was holding Maka's picture in her mouth. "This is her student photo." Soul murmured "What are you doing with this?"

To this Blair simply tilted her head, projecting innocence from her beguiling eyes. Soul wasn't buying it.

"That won't work on me Blair. I know you."

Blair mewed disarmingly, once again giving Soul that stare of feigned innocence.

This only made Soul more incredulous "Don't give me that." Then he realized something. "Blair, why aren't you talking?"

As if to answer his question, the orange-haired man who'd rushed past the window before burst into the restaurant. His irritated glare surveyed every inch of the deli with an unmistakable air of menace.

Not cool. Knowing Blair she'd probably taken one of her games just a tad too far. No doubt this guy had a bone to pick with her, and was more than likely justified in his desire. Soul didn't have time to deal with that kind of thing.

Perhaps if he just played it cool, the icy eyed man wouldn't notice. The idea seemed like a fairly good one, until Blair decided to greet the man with her sultry cat call.

If the guy hadn't known she was there, he knew now, as his gaze fixated upon Blair, and then refocused on Soul. The eyes stayed focused on Soul as the orange-haired man made his approach.

"Great" Soul muttered under his breath, pretending he didn't notice the encroaching man.

"That your cat?" The man asked, crossing his arms.

Soul put on his best devil-may-care expression as he turned to face the man. "I wouldn't say that she's mine." Soul said casually drawing a hand across Blair's back. "But she hangs out with me a lot."

"That so?" The man replied "That cat's pretty smart, if a bit mischievous."

"I wouldn't say she's a—" Soul began, but was interrupted by claws digging into his thigh. He caught Blair glaring at him out of the corner of his eye. Apparently she didn't want him to finish that statement. But perhaps if he modified it. "—normal cat." Soul finished.

Blair appeared to find that version of the sentence to be acceptable to her. It seemed she wanted this guy to think of her as a cat for some reason. That was different from her usual way with men, but it was probably just another one of her games. Perhaps if Soul played along he'd be able to avoid getting too deeply involved in it.

"So I gathered" the man replied. "Anyways, I need that picture she's got there."

"What for?" Soul asked, modulating the accusatory incredulity of his voice to something closer to vague curiosity. "You have a fetish or something?"

"Nothing like that." The man said with disgust. "I'm a new teacher at Shibusen. I was supposed to observe Chrona and Maka in today's extra-curricular assignment, and get some lessons ready for their future studies."

"That so?" Soul asked allowing just a pinch of boredom to seep into his curious tone. "I never heard anything about that."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes dangerously "Why would you hear anything about it?"

"I'm her partner." Soul said as his food arrived. "Soul Eater Evans."

"Soul Eater?" Ichigo repeated. "What kind of a name is that?"

"It's my kind of name." Soul said matter-of-factly, as he took a bite out of his sandwich "And what I am."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at this. "So you're a meister?"

"Nah" Soul replied as he took another bite out of his sandwich. "They don't eat souls."

"A Scythe then?"

"Nah." Soul replied with a chuckle "I'm not on that level." He then allowed his hand to become a minuscule red and black blade and used it to cut the remains of the sandwich in half. "Just Maka's partner, a demon weapon in training."

Momentary surprise flickered across the man's face, followed by annoyance. He then shifted his gaze from Soul to Blair, who nodded her head and mewed in her innocent way. Soul wasn't sure what that meant, but apparently it was enough to mollify the orange haired man.

"Huh."The man said as he took a seat one stool away from Soul. He didn't turn to face Soul as he said. "The name's Ichigo."

Soul smirked, gulping a large bit of meat down his gullet. "Japanese right?"

"Yeah, something like that." Ichigo replied. "So you're Maka's partner."

"You're gonna believe what I say after just meeting me?" Soul asked, slicing himself a piece of pound cake.

"The cat seems to trust you." Ichigo remarked "She seems smart enough to know when she's around someone she can trust. At the very least, no animal would take up residence in a man's lap if it didn't trust them."

Soul pursed his lips knowingly. "She knows how to disarm me."

"She led me to you." Ichigo continued. "I think she knows that you can help me out here."

Soul looked down at Blair who was giving him a meaningful look. Asking with her eyes for Soul to trust this man that he just met. Soul sighed. It probably couldn't hurt. At the very least Ichigo appeared to be someone who didn't fly off the handle at a moment's notice, although his earlier display was not encouraging.

"So you're looking for Maka." Soul said as he bit into the pound cake, relishing the light hint of lemon that was apparently the flavor of the week. "Any particular reason why?"

Ichigo frowned. "According to Sid, something may be wrong with her soul. I can't get into the details here, but I need to see her to know if it's what I suspect."

"I see" Soul said, a tinge of worry managing to manifest itself on his visage. If there was any doubt before now, this man's supposed reasonings would confirm that something had in fact affected Maka, and that that something was more than likely connected with the dream from the night before. An uncool fact, but one that was probably true nonetheless. "Well, you won't find her in the city." Soul noted, no longer eating. "I've been looking for her all day, and haven't found even a trace of her."

"That's bad." Ichigo said with a scowl. "She's probably not in the city anymore. If what I think happened, happened."

"What do you think happened?" Soul queried.

"I can't say here." Ichigo replied "But we need to find her, and fast. Problem is my soul sensing abilities aren't worth crap. I couldn't find her, even if she was in this city."

"I can't say that I'm capable of anything like that either" Soul noted with a frown. However, his visage brightened with a smirk as looked down at the purple cat that sat in his lap. "But Blair might be."

"You don't mean," Ichigo started with an incredulous look. "The cat?"

Soul grinned toothily "She's not exactly a normal cat."

Ichigo cast his gaze upon Blair as she sat on her haunches a confident look in her amethyst feline eyes "So I gathered" he murmured shaking his head. "So I gathered."

[-]

Maka was confused. She had no memory of waking up or doing any portion of her waking routine this morning. Nor had she any recollection of making any rounds through Death City before this moment of awareness.

Yet here she stood, in a remote section of the desert, some indeterminable distance out from Death City. At the very least, she couldn't find the city on the horizon.

Clad in a light skirt and blouse with nothing else to protect her from the Sun's increasingly burning gaze, Maka couldn't help but think she was forgetting something else. Something more important than her daily routines, although she couldn't fathom what it was. A darkly unsure expression surfaced upon Maka's visage as she searched the cloudless skies and rolling dunes for an answer to the quandary of what it was.

The sandy world before her yielded no answers, although she found yet another quandary to investigate. Her right hand was gripping something very tightly. The object was cold in her hand, despite the ever rising noon-day temperatures, and felt like something akin to a handle.

Right. The dream. Last night. It was last night right? That was the longest instance of the dream that she'd ever had. Even still her memory of it was hazy at best. She remembered dancing with the leaves and drifting into the shadow laden forest, curiosity goading her ever forward. She'd seen something in the wind charged darkness, glinting in the moon's stark eyeless gaze. She'd grasped it, and then…

And then, here she was.

She drew her gaze to her right hand and found a relatively small hatchet resting within her solid grip. Upon closer examination its hilt appeared to be of a deep obsidian hue, with varying lines of grey swirling up to the axe head, whose silver sheen bore etchings of a similar style to the ones that adorned the hilt.

Her confusion dwindled into listlessness as her eyes followed the lines that wandered about aimlessly. The lines had nary a beginning or end to any of them, their paths continually cycling and crossing, merging into one another in a purposeless, endless waltz, moving towards a destination whose location, though seemingly assured to be somewhere on these intertwining paths, appeared to have no sure path or direction to arrive at it.

She could feel herself getting lost in the maze. Lost in the many winding pathways that meandered across that weapon. Something irrational in her wanted to know where they all ended and where they began. Wanted to find that place, go there, live there, be there. Be that place.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" came a voice like a siren's whisper on the wind.

Maka bit her lip finding her gaze at rest upon the head of the axe, staring at a quarter of her own pale blonde visage, one singular eye returning her stare. Yet something was amiss. Something was out of place. Though the eye, skin and hair were hers, the gaze behind them that leered out from the reflection was most certainly not.

She shook her head a bit to regain her bearings, but found that her eye still leered back, the whisper coming forth once more.

"An endlessly winding path that only finds itself in the end." The incongruous reflection murmured.

"Who are you?" Maka murmured, finding it slightly hard to focus on the eye through the hatchet's designs.

"Who does it look like I am?" The whisper replied, the eye moving as if in concert with a face beyond the confines of the hatchet. "I think it's fairly obvious."

"You're not me." Maka said firmly giving the hatchet a sidelong look.

"True." The whisper replied. "I'm not you."

"Then who…?"

"Only you can answer that." The whisper replied

"I don't like riddles."

The reflected eye narrowed amusedly "It's no riddle. I can't answer before you do."

Maka closed her eyes and shook her head once more "I'm going insane."

"What makes you say that?"

"Nothing seems real."

"Maybe you're deaming?"

Maka frowned. "Dreams are mental concoctions, built by the mind to represent and implement its actions while one is not conscious. Said actions are confined to the manipulation of the body, soul or souls that said mind is linked to.

"Text book answer." The whisper stated, a bit of amusement filtering into its disembodied voice. "As expected of the ever studious Maka Albarn."

Maka said nothing to this, her frown deepening.

"But as any judicious student of the occult mind should be aware," the whisper continued, slowly evolving into a dark murmur. "perception of reality is entirely controlled by that same mind. One can never really know whether life is a vivid dream or dreams are in fact life."

"Only if you don't have a grip on what reality is." Maka muttered taking a cross-legged position in the sand as she laid the hatchet down. "I think mine is slipping."

"Because," The voice said in a mildly amused tone. "you don't know if I'm real. If this is real?"

Maka said nothing to this, simply closing her eyes.

"Then it appears there's only one way to tell." The voice continued. "Wake up."

Maka's eyes shot open at this statement. Once again she swept the desert with a vigilant gaze, and once again she found not the answers she sought. Only the hollow silence of death's desert, and the lonely dust laden wind that traipsed across its ochreous sands remained. Both hatchet and voice were nowhere to be seen or heard.

[-]

It hadn't taken long for Blair to lead Soul and Ichigo through the city to where she believed Maka's last whereabouts were. Though she had no formal training in witchcraft, her own self-training was sufficient enough to grant her a modicum of extrasensory capabilities. Not much. Just enough to get a vague idea of soul's locations within a certain radius if she focused enough. And while this skill couldn't normally be used to locate a particular person, her familiarity with Maka's wavelength was enough for her to at least pick up on her general location if she was in the vicinity.

It was this familiarity that allowed her to catch wind of Maka as she slunk through the city the other night. At the time she hadn't thought much of the fact that she was headed towards the edge of Death City. She'd simply assumed Maka was dealing with pre-mission jitters in the same way the Blair dealt with her own conundrums: prowl the city streets until she forgot about them.

Now followed by Soul and Ichigo, she was focusing as hard she could to find any trace of the young meister. With a bit of effort Blair found a faint trail of something akin to Maka's soul wavelength, although it appeared to be vastly diluted. The trail lead her and the others to the huge double doors that opened into the barren blazing desert.

Soul frowned as Blair stopped at the double doors. "Is this where the trail ends?"

Blair nodded.

"So I was right." Ichigo said as he swept his gaze across the expanse of desert sands that lay beyond Death City's main entrance. "She did leave the city."

"Yeah." Soul murmured "She could be anywhere out there."

"This is bad" Ichigo said with a frown. "If she's left alone in a desert like that, there's no telling what could happen to her."

Soul gave Ichigo a suspicious look. "You're not just talkin' heat stroke. You mean _other_ factors, right?"

Ichigo nodded "Yeah"

"I don't suppose you want to tell me about those factors?" Soul asked darkly.

Ichigo closed his eyes for a moment before he replied. "If you're her partner, then you need to know." Ichigo said soberly. "And I _will_ tell you. Just not here."

"Where then?"

"On our way out to the desert."

"You have a plan to find her?"

"No" Ichigo said "I have a plan to bring her to us."

[-]

Meanwhile somewhere in France two men stood near a pay phone just outside of a restaurant in the theater district of Paris. One was waiting patiently nearby as the other took what appeared to be an important call.

"This is very short notice… We're on break… I don't care if we're the closest ones, I'm not giving up my chance to visit Moulin Rouge... Not if I die beforehand… Easy? You're assignments are never easy… It's really that simple?… And you're sure I won't die… I don't like dying… I have your word on that?...Alright fine, but only if you promise… Right… Bye."

"Sounds like we've got work." The man waiting outside the booth said.

"It's nothing big Kyouren." The man in the phone booth replied. "Just a bit of recon in one of Czech's magical villages."

"It's never that simple Sakkon."

"Don't I know it." Sakkon replied.

[-][-][-][-]

Notes From Days Long Past

Mizuiro's Diary

[-][-][-][-]

Today was pretty eventful. That's saying something considering the usual excitement at Urahara's shop when Tatsuki and Keigo are around. Every other time I look Tatsuki's got the guy in a head lock or is bashing him on the head for some stupid comment he made. From what I can tell it's all in good fun. At the very least she hasn't broken any of his bones yet. Of course when Jinta gets involved there's no telling what can happen.

But I'm getting off topic. Today started out normally. As normal as normal gets anyway. Went to class. Ichigo was absent again. Something I've gotten used to, although Tatsuki and Keigo seem a bit bitter about the fact that we never know where he is. Especially Tatsuki. I think Keigo's just going along with it so he doesn't get hurt.

Anyway, school was uneventful. However, the walk home was different. Or rather it was different in a way that was becoming the norm. It was the third time I'd found myself walking home alone. Tatsuki was off consoling Orihime for various reasons I don't and probably shouldn't know. Keigo was off being Keigo somewhere. Thinking back, I think his sister had something to do with it. Probably trying to get him to bring Ikkaku back. In any case, it wasn't something I wanted to be involved in.

At any rate, I was walking home alone when a hollow attacked. Not such a big shock I suppose. I was alone and was vaguely associated to Ichigo, Chad and the rest. It only made sense that I'd be a target. Is it pathetic that I had resolved not to fight back if a hollow appeared. That I'd resolved to just die gracefully? I don't really know for sure why, but that resolution allowed me to be calm when the thing appeared.

However, it wasn't actually after me. No, there was a child it was rushing after. Nothing seemed special about her at the time. Not that I was worried about that then, mind you. No I was more worried about the fact that that little girl hadn't made the same resolution that I had.

It was stupid of me, but I followed the monster as it chased the girl, stealing someone's unchained bike in hopes of catching up to her in time. I don't know how, but I managed to get a hold of the girl. The rest of that escapade was kind of a blur. I just remember riding as fast and as hard as I could, hoping that Ishida, Chad, Urahara or Yoruichi showed up to save the day. I had no such luck though, as I found myself cornered and alone in some random corner of Karakura.

So I did the only thing I could do: I hugged the child close to me and shielded her with my body. All I wanted was for someone, anyone to show up and save the day. I'd settle for Kon if it meant we were going to live. But that was when the really weird thing happened.

I heard the little girl mutter some gibberish about crows and shadows, and before I could comprehend what she had said we were both falling. I don't know how long we fell, or what we were falling through. I didn't have the courage to look. I just clung to the girl even more tightly than before, and prepared myself to take the landing for her.

But the landing was gentle. Even so, it took me awhile to loosen my grip and open my eyes. We were in soccer field near the elementary school. And the girl had fallen asleep in my arms. Not wanting to look like a pedophile, I first thought that I should take her to the police so they could find her parents. Then I realized that the police couldn't protect her from the hollow.

So I took her to Urahara's. I'm sure he knew what to do to keep her safe right? He knows better than I do, that's for sure.

In any case the rest of the day was fairly normal. A godsend in my book.

Although I have to wonder. What happened when that girl and I were cornered?

February 24th 2013

Mizuiro Kojima

[-][-][-][-]

More to come…

Was it enjoyable?

Or perhaps not?

Either way, inquiring minds want to know


	6. Extenuating Circumstances

I do not own either the Soul Eater or Bleach universes, nor do I intend to profit from their use

[-][-]

Shinigami Chronicles

Act 1: Hollow Eater

Chapter 6: Extenuating Circumstances

[-][-]

A pale grey haired man in his lower thirties sat in a low swivel chair, shrouded in darkness, his eyes masked by his rounded glasses that mirrored the computer screen before him. A lone cigarette hung from his lips as he looked from his research notes to the monitor and back again, his fingers in a flurry of motion across the keyboard as he transposed the results of a very recent addition to his research schedule.

The furious fluster of keyboard presses halted momentarily when he reached up to crank the rather large screw that jutted out from the side of his head. However, the man didn't return to his typing as he sensed a familiar presence just behind him.

"Sid." the man called without turning to face the zombie. "Back for the specimen I take it?"

"Just for your report, Stein." Sid replied simply. "I know how rarely you get a chance to study something like this these days. Wouldn't want to ruin your fun."

Stein smirked slightly as he whirled about in his chair to face the zombie operative. "Spirit would have a fit if he heard you say that."

"You can't really blame him." Sid said as he moved to turn on the lights. "He was your unwilling patient for quite some time."

"If only his wife hadn't noticed." Stein murmured with an air of nostalgia. "I've always enjoyed a good dissection. Demon weapons like him are particularly fascinating."

"Right." Sid deadpanned as he flipped on the lights "So what's the verdict?".

The sudden brightness in the room garnered a slight flinching reaction from Stein, though his composure was regained almost immediately afterward. "You were right about one thing, Sid." Stein said as he swiveled to face his monitor once more. "This isn't your ordinary closed soul here."

"How so?"

"Well, its grey color for one." Stein replied as he began to type once more. "Most souls have a very well defined color spectrum that they adhere to. For the most part, standard human souls range from white to very light tinges of color, depending on strength of the soul. Meisters on the other hand, tend to have deep hues of neon blue for the color of their souls due to training.

Yeah, I know that." Sid said "Demon weapons can be either red or blue, depending on the nature of the weapon, witches are purple, immortals are green, and the color yellow can be found in any one of these types of souls, including meisters."

"Right." Stein said without turning from his work. "Though there are some outliers that break the norm and take on colors normally associated with other soul types, the general distribution is fairly close to what you described." Stein stopped typing just long enough to flip over the page of notes he was transposing. "However, this grey soul is not an outlier of any of the soul types. It's something entirely different."

"And that thing is?"

"I'm not quite sure." Stein replied pausing in his typing for a moment. "The wavelength of it is frazzled and chaotic. It doesn't appear to have a standard pattern that it returns to."

"So it's something you haven't encountered before?"

"I'll have to check my data bases." Stein answered, resuming his note transcription. "Suffice to say, I haven't encountered something like this recently."

"I see, anything else?"

"One other thing." Stein stopped typing once more. "Where did you get this?"

"The usual place." Sid said as he turned to leave Stein's workspace. "somewhere classified."

Stein took a long drag on his cigarette, as he turned back to his work, releasing the fumes in a knowing sigh "Need to know basis information, huh?"

"Yeah, you know the drill." Sid said as he started on his way out. "Let me know if anything turns up."

"Of course." Stein replied, returning to his work. "And Sid?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't forget to turn off the lights on your way out."

[-]

Sid now stood just outside of Stein's domicile in Death City's south suburban district, a dark expression on his visage as turned to make his way towards Shibusen. If Stein's description was on the money, then that soul Ichigo found could become a bit of a problem. It was something of a dangerous move to allow Stein access to the soul, seeing as his episodes were becoming more frequent as of late. A bout of the crazies could lead to the inadvertent destruction of the soul. However, Stein was one of the most qualified men to analyze non-standard souls in the country, if not the world. If any pertinent information as to the birth of said soul could be garnered, it would be worth the risk.

At least that was Death's take on the matter. Sid wasn't quite sure what the city's founder had in mind regarding that soul, if anything at all. That guy, more than anyone else Sid had met, was truly unpredictable.

Suddenly, an incessant ringing interrupted Sid's ponderings just as he was nearing the throughway into the entertainment district. He brandished a small black cell phone with a comical skull emblazoned on its back from his side pocket. The call appeared to be from Sakkon.

"Hm" Sid murmured as he accepted the call. That was rather quick. Even for a recon mission. The moon was just beginning its rise as the stars had just begun to unveil themselves. Sid had at least expected a full days time before Sakkon's report. He wasn't terribly efficient. No doubt he had need of information regarding the recon area.

"Sakkon." Sid said as he found a dark and empty alley to take the call in.

The sounds of a struggle could be heard in the background and Sakkon's nervously frazzled voice came through the phone. "Sid, that you?" His voice sounded like he was on the run during the call.

"Yeah, it's me." Sid answered. The sounds of the struggle briefly rose as a loud crash sounded off in the background. "What's going on over there?"

"Your 'simple recon mission' escalated in risk." Sakkon replied between breaths, his voice bouncing with each step he was apparently taking. "I've died once already."

"What's the situation?"

"Hold on."

The sound of sharp breaths and running feet emanated from the phone for a few moments, the struggle underscoring it slowly dying down. After a moment Sakkon continued "One of the golems here's gone nuts, and it's using a demon weapon somehow. I don't think it knows I'm alive at the moment though."

"So it has sentience?"

"Either that or that demon weapon it's wielding is one hell of a puppeteer." The sound of metal clashing with metal repeatedly underscored Sakkon's voice, escalating in volume as he continued. "In any case, I need back up as soon as you can get it." The telltale cry of a chainsaw punctuated Sakkon's last statement followed by a brief pause and hurried footsteps before Sakkon continued in a slightly more panicked voice. "I think we're gonna need a scythe out here."

"I see." Sid said darkly. "Can you last for at least an hour?"

"Well, with Kyouren running interference…" Sakkon took a deep breath, apparently weighing the merits of the situation. "Maybe."

"Well, you'd better try, that's about the best I can manage on such short notice." Sid's frown deepened "Also, Kyouren's there? I thought I told you not to involve civilians in your work."

"He involved himself." Sakkon replied "Never takes no for an answer, that guy… "

"It helps if you actually give him the chance to." Sid said with a knowingly exasperated sigh. "But we'll talk about that at a later time. For now I'll get you your back-up as soon as I can. Try to keep the situation contained until then."

"Roger that." Sakkon said in a slightly dampened tone. "I'll do my best."

A monstrous roar followed by the sound of shattering glass and splintering wood came through the phone speaker just as the call was cut off.

Sid frowned as he rushed towards Shibusen, dialing a new number into his cell. He'd expected the reports of golem rampages to be hallucinations brought on by Asura's release. The beast had originally housed himself in Europe when he was active during the dark times, so it seemed a fair assumption that he would return to one of his old haunts first. Just being near him in his contained state could cause one to fall prey to fear born hallucinations. Released, his effects would be even more far reaching. So such developments were expected.

However, for the golem to actually be rampaging, something else had to be going on. Sid only hoped Sakkon could survive long enough to give his report on the matter. With Asura at large, and Maka in the throes of hollowification, adding another problem that he knew little about to the pile of unknowns already present was something Sid wanted to avoid.

For the moment, however, the safety of his operatives and the residents of the Czech Republic came first. He only hoped the back-up would arrive in time.

[-]

Meanwhile, somewhere in the golem village, a dark haired man in his early twenties wearing mud-ridden, dusty overalls and thick craftsman's gloves hid behind a wooden shelf as he closed a black phone with a stylized skull insignia on it and shoved it into his pocket. He frowned nervously as he considered the contents of the conversation that had just transpired. An hour could seem like an eternity in some circumstances. And it wasn't even guaranteed that the reinforcements would arrive by then.

Even still, an hour was pretty good for an impromptu request, so Sakkon couldn't complain. At the very least, he could avoid dying a second time for that long. He hazarded a fleeting look around the hardwood cover he was hiding behind.

There were three aisles of various trinkets, woodcrafts and souvenirs just ahead of his one. The front-most one was smashed in half with splinters of wood, shards of what was left of the remains of a display window, and a thirty something man in the middle of the aisles two halves.

The man in question wore a brown shoulder holster lined with a myriad of minuscule capsules over a plain white T-shirt, a blue windbreaker jacket that normally covered them from view halfway off the man's shoulder. Even though he appeared to be rather haphazardly sprawled on the floor, the grip on the swords he had in each hand suggested that he was only marginally fazed by the situation.

"You okay over there Kyouren?" Sakkon called from his hiding place

"Guy hits hard." Kyouren replied as he sheathed the blade he held in his left hand so that he could pick himself up off the ground. "I didn't think I'd fly quite this far."

"The main thing's that we got him away from the people here." Sakkon said taking a precursory glance before moving to Kyouren's position. "Death would have our heads if any of them were hurt because of us."

"_Your_ head." Kyouren corrected as he dusted off his black slacks. "Death would have _your_ head if that happened." He then tightened the brown waist harness in which the sheaths for his two swords were ensconced. "I'm not a part of that witch hunting band of yours."

"That's not all we do." Sakkon replied. "You know that."

"Maybe" Kyouren replied "But the fact that you do that at all is reason enough for me."

Sakkon sighed at this statement "And yet you still tag along on these missions."

"I have my reasons." Kyouren said simply as he redrew his left sword. "Golem's going to be back here any second now. Have you got a plan or something?"

"What would you say if I didn't?" Sakkon asked sheepishly

Kyouren was about to say something indignant to this remark but was interrupted by the roar of a gas engine and collapsing stone as the ledge in which the display was originally held was burst through by one angry golem. A rather crass voice accompanied the golem's arrival as a head momentarily formed out of the chainsaw. "Alright you little shit. I know you're in here somewhere. Come on out, I've got 200 years worth of bloodlust to sate."

"I'd say you'd better come up with a plan quick, Sakkon." Kyouren murmured with a slightly miffed expression as the dust from the golem's initial entry swirled about. "Gericko over there's not gonna wait much longer."

"Just give me a few seconds." Sakkon said as he took the opportunity to dive for cover just before the dust cleared.

The golem focused on Kyouren as the crass voice returned, the head that had formed out of its weapon seeping back into the chainsaw. "So you didn't run. Good. My engine's primed and ready." The chainsaw said as the golem took a step forward. "Woulda been a waste if there wasn't someone here to kill with it."

"'Glad I could assist you?" Kyouren replied.

"You wanna 'assist' me?" Gericko cried in a raving tone as his engine roared. "Stop pissing me off!"

"'give him a few seconds' he says" Kyouren muttered under his breath as he took a lowered sidelong stance, holding his left blade before him at mid-riff level, his right blade just below his neckline. "Like _that's _gonna be easy."

As Kyouren finished the sentence he had just enough time to duck under a wild horizontal swing from the golem, taking the opportunity to step into slashing distance of the golem's legs. He used that same stepping motion to move into a turning slash with the left and then right blade, continuing the spin to step around the golem as turned to slam its weapon down upon its adversary.

Kyouren could hear a rather verbose string of expletives coming from Gericko as Kyouren just managed to sideslip the chainsaw's attack, flowing into another turning slash, this one aimed at the golem's midsection. Although the attack connected, no visible reaction was registered by the golem as it moved to grasp at the whirling swordsman with its free hand.

However, the swordsman was already using the momentum from his spin to throw himself into a sidelong combat roll through the golem's legs, slashing at the back of the construct's left leg in the process.

Again, this garnered no reaction from the golem, although Gericko exclaimed something about holding still, that Kyouren didn't catch. He was too focused on avoiding the chainsaw that was headed straight for his head. The swordsman managed to launch himself just out of range of the attack, springing into a slightly skewed side flip to dodge the gas powered weapon.

However, he was swatted out of the air by the golem's free hand and sent careening into the hardwood shelf that Sakkon was hiding behind. This garnered a triumphant "Ha!" from Gericko as the golem held its position for a moment, seemingly savoring its brief victory.

"Still can't get a fix on its wavelength." Kyouren muttered as he picked himself up off the ground. "Its like its everywhere but it's not."

"That's bad." Sakkon murmured from behind the shelf. "You can't do much until you sample it with those swords of yours."

"I could at least dampen his attacks then." Kyouren agreed "Have you got a plan yet? The golem's almost here."

"Working on it." Sakkon said, his eyes fixated on something just outside of one of the store windows.

"Well, work faster." Kyouren said in a sing song voice as the golem began a plodding run towards them. "I can only do this for so long."

With that Kyouren rushed forward to meet the golem, once more embarking on an acrobatic tour of the construct's body, narrowly avoiding its every swing with almost precognitive timing. However, several more smashed aisles and a broken wall later, Kyouren found himself pinned against the furthermost aisle of the store, all the rest of them having been destroyed.

As the golem reared back to jam the chainsaw into its enemy, Gericko's voice came out of the weapon as it roared menacingly. "It's been too long since I've had a good gorefest." The chainsaw roared once more. "I'm gonna savor this."

"Anytime now Sakkon." Kyouren mumbled under his breath.

As if to answer his request, a raucous crashing noise came forth from the west end of the store. This was followed by a rather large object charging down the aisle and slamming hard into Gericko's golem. Gericko's golem staggered and fell from the force of the blow, releasing Kyouren in the process.

Now, a new living construct stood on the field of battle, blocking Kyouren with its massive body.

"About time." Kyouren said as he took his ready stance once more.

"Hey, I had to put that other body someplace safe." Sakkon replied, his voice emanating from the construct. "Not an easy job with mister bloodlust over there. It was a lucky thing this golem was in a stone shed."

"Fire with fire, eh." Gericko said as his golem picked itself up off the ground. "Not a bad idea. If you had a demon weapon to match me with maybe you could actually do something."

"Working on that." Sakkon said, casting a sidelong glance at Kyouren.

Kyouren, whose stance had shifted to a forward facing one, was holding his two blades in a cross shape, his eyes closed at the moment. However, he still responded to Sakkon's questioning glance. "Give me time."

"On it." Sakkon said as he charged forward, his right arm upraised for a heavy swing.

It was parried easily by Gericko, who returned the favor by thrusting his chainsaw into Sakkon's mid-section.

"You're a pretty crappy fighter." Gericko remarked as he revved the engine of his chainsaw. "You're not gonna do shit to me."

To this Sakkon responded by throwing his body forward, deepening the gouge that Gericko had made into his body and toppling himself and Gericko to the floor. "I don't need to do anything meaningful." Sakkon commented as he wrapped his arms around Gericko's golem's body. "I just need you to hold still for a second."

Realizing what was happening, both Gericko and his golem began to struggle against the hold, the chainsaw roaring ever loader as it ripped away at the Sakkon's construct's insides. Sakkon however, glad of the fact that golems didn't have nerve endings, held fast.

Meanwhile, a white haze had surrounded Kyouren's blades as he returned to his normal stance. He hopped over to the side of the still struggling Sakkon and Gericko, selecting an effective vantage point for himself as he sheathed his left blade, and gripped his right with both hands as he said "Get ready Sakkon."

With that he lunged forward, jumping into a falling overhead cut. Sakkon had just enough time to make one exclamation before both he and Gericko's golem were cut in twain.

"Damn it, not again."

[-]

Elsewhere in a dry barren wasteland a single blackish-brown trail of dust and exhaust blazed across cracked desert earth, swirling into the heat-ridden red-orange oblivion that was the cloudless dusk of Death Valley. The loud roar of a heavy engined motorcycle accompanied that traveling cloud of dust, utterly destroying the peaceful silence that would have reigned on this gradually cooling evening.

The wind rushing through his hair, the heavy thrum of a powerful chrome V-twin engine at his feet and the raucous roar of said engine's exhaust did little to calm Soul's nerves as he blazed a trail across the craggy desert. Behind the sunglasses he'd opted to wear to defend his eyes against the dust that was being thrown about as he and his passengers moved towards their destination Soul's eyes were tense. He'd hoped that this morning was nothing more than pre-mission jitters on Maka's part. Such a supposition was a stretch, he knew that better than anyone. But, he'd hoped that maybe, just this once, Maka would be obsessing over the sort of thing that the average girl would. Boy troubles, cool clothes, gossip among classmates or something petty like that.

Then again, if that were ever really the case, Soul probably wouldn't have liked her as much as he did. She was cool in that way. Logical, strong, and active, if she ever had problems with boys or clothes, she handled them directly.

That was why Soul knew from the very beginning that whatever was happening was serious: Maka had come to him for advice on the matter. That, more than anything else, had put him on edge. Because that was the other thing she was better at than anyone: knowing when she really needed help.

It would've been horribly uncool if he couldn't answer her call for help. Hell, the situation was uncool enough, considering that it wasn't even her that was riding behind him on his treasured motorcycle.

At the very least Ichigo appeared to be composed enough, though his death grip on the seat suggested otherwise. Blair, who had taken a perch on top of Ichigo's head, didn't appear to be bothered by the high speeds at all. No doubt some sort of spell was holding her in place up there.

"So you said 'go southwest'" Soul shouted over the roar of his motorcycle. "You gonna tell me what's in that direction?"

"An old quarantine area from back in the dark times." Ichigo replied "Used to hold all kinds of creatures in it. It doesn't see much use now."

"Why are we going there?"

"Containment. Your friend's not going to be in a very agreeable mood when we find her."

"Really?" Soul replied with a frown. "And you know this how?"

"I don't know." Ichigo admitted. "Not for certain. The circumstances seem to be adding up, but I'll have to see her symptoms to be sure."

"You're dodging the question. How do you know all of this?"

"I've seen it before." Ichigo replied "It didn't happen in exactly the same way the time before, but then, it's different for every soul."

"What do you think's happening to her?"

"Some form of hollowification." Ichigo said, raising a steadying hand to the cat on his head as they went over a particularly large bump in the ground, soaring into the air. "Beyond that, I'm not sure."

"Hollowification?" Soul asked as he leaned back in preparation for the landing. "What's that?"

"It's a form of soul transformation." Ichigo replied as he braced himself for the landing. "Makes you hungry for souls."

"Is that all?" Soul said with a bit of relief, easily maintaining his balance as they landed heavily on the rock laden landscape. "That doesn't seem so bad."

"It is when the hunger takes a life of its own." Ichigo explained as they weaved about the dry rock-strewn landscape. "It will fight for control over her, first in the body, then the mind, then the soul."

"Heh." Soul replied with a smirk. "Maka's pretty strong when it comes to at least two of those areas. She'll crush whatever it is that's in her."

"It's not that simple." Ichigo replied "It isn't just some fight between two souls."

Soul frowned grimly as he maneuvered the motorcycle through a sea of sandstone rocks and sand. "Then what is it?"

"It's a fight for existence." Ichigo said darkly. "And control."

"So what?" Soul replied "I've got the hunger and I'm completely normal." Soul ignored Red's brazen laughter at the statement as he continued his reasoning "Maka's better than me when it comes to matters of the soul. She'll know what to do to win. She'll kill whatever bastard it is that's trying to take her soul away from her."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Ichigo said simply, a serious expression on his visage.

"What?"

"Hollowification isn't a sickness. It's a condition. There's no virus to cleanse, or bacteria to kill." Ichigo scowled grimly. "It's caused by the soul itself. If you destroy the cause, you'll destroy the soul too."

An annoyed and befuddled expression formed on Soul's visage as he gunned the engines of his beloved motorcycle, its mighty roar echoing across the rocky landscape. "Then what are we supposed to do?"

The first stars of night were appearing, heralded by an overall cooling of the desert air as Ichigo replied

"What we can."

[-]

The hatchet was in her hands again. It had slipped out of her hands at least three times due to fatigue and thirst, if not more. Yet somehow it had returned to her hand without her noticing until it slipped through her fingers once more. Once again, the small weapon fell through her fingertips as she dragged her feet through the cool sands of the steadily darkening Death Valley night.

Her eyes drifted towards the moon, ever grinning, its unblinking gaze returning Maka's listless stare. She didn't understand why she was here, why she was looking to the moon and the stars that surrounded it. Some vague part of herself wanted to know why, yet that question was slowly fading into the ether along with the rest her conscious perceptions.

It felt like she was viewing everything through a hazy filter, her own thoughts appearing muddled and indecipherable as she attempted to make sense of the situation. Only the sand across her feet and the desert breeze's gentle caress let her know that she wasn't just dreaming, that she and this desert were both in fact real.

At least as real as the growing weakness in her arms and legs.

Something wasn't right about that. Something she couldn't quite…

…

…

…

No use…

Weak

Too we a k to

thi n k

…

She needed more…

S t re ngth

Strength?

…

No

Po w e r

E n e rg y

…

But… wh e r e?

…

A moment of clarity came to her as the hatchet returned to her empty hand once more. She held the hatchet before her, a more focused stare boring back into her listless gaze from within the reflection of the hatchet.

"Sustenance…" she murmured, tightening her grip on the weapon. She spoke to the purported being on the other side of the blade. "N e e d…"

Maka's attempted sentence went unfinished the words trailing off into indecipherable babblings as the haze of incomprehension slowly returned.

Maka heard one last reply before she went under completely.

"I'll take care of that."

[-]

"Huh." Soul said veiling his surprise under his usual mask of boredom. "Didn't expect something like this."

Before him stood a rather large dungeon like facility, with stone wrought walls, barred and sealed windows, rusted steel doors and a rather bleak color palette of grays, greens, browns and blacks. The entire area was framed by a cavern of sandstone and other mineral deposits, adorned with enormous stalactites and stalagmites jutting out at all sorts of arbitrary angles.

Behind him was a fairly long drop to the floor of the canyon that this cave was formed in. A rather small and unwieldy pathway back to the top of the canyon was all that separated Soul from the more than one-hundred meter drop to the fierce river rapids down below. He'd had to walk his motorcycle down to the cavern entrance, not wanting to leave it out in the open, even if the chances of it being stolen out here were little to none.

Ichigo, who had leapt off the motorcycle almost as soon as they'd stopped, now stood just in front of the browning double doors. Blair was still nestled comfortably atop Ichigo's head somehow, despite the old swordsman's initial attempts to remove her. She appeared, at least to Soul, to be quite smug about this fact.

Even knowing that it was in fact a lecherous witch that was perched upon that man's head, Blair's insistence on remaining in that position still came off as cute somehow. No doubt Blair was fully aware of this fact.

This notion was confirmed as soon as Blair made eye contact with Soul and winked in her usual suggestive way.

Soul turned to check the chain lock on his motorcycle once more, hiding the flush that was rising in his cheeks as he said. "Looks pretty ancient."

"That's because it is." Ichigo replied as he began to search his pockets for something. He had apparently resigned himself to Blair being on his head. "This place was probably around before your grandparents were born." He continued as he fished an old style long shaft key with a skull emblazoned on the bow of its head out of his pocket. The skull, Soul noticed, was rather intricately detailed, with a very convincing likeness to the real thing.

"I wouldn't know." Soul said with a shrug. "Never met my grandparents. Hardly knew the ones that raised me."

Ichigo, his back to Soul as he was opening the rusted doors, paused for a moment, allowing an empty silence to pervade the cavern before he replied. Blair had turned to face Soul now, a mischievously interested expression that would normally be associated with a gossip monger on her fur filled visage.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Ichigo said.

"Ah." Soul said with a smirk and a throwaway gesture. "It's nothing I didn't choose." Soul's smirk broadened a little when he saw Blair's impish curiosity become slightly more genuine. Ichigo however, remained concentrated on the door before him.

"Even still." Ichigo continued as he shoved the key into the door. "It sounds like a hard life to live."

"It's only as hard as you make it." Soul replied "And that's what I like about it." Soul had to hold back a triumphant laugh as his last statement fully transformed Blair's intrigued expression into rather baffled one

Soul's reply had a different effect on Ichigo, garnering an approving chuckle from the swordsman as he thrust the doors open. "That's one way to look at it." He said before turning to Soul, a serious look on his visage. "Are you ready?"

Soul shrugged. "I guess."

"Good."

With this Ichigo unveiled the limiter band on his right wrist and undid the latch that held it in place. Although it looked like Ichigo had just had a weight lifted from him, Soul didn't notice anything special beyond that.

Soul was nonplussed. "What are you doing?"

"Luring her in." Ichigo said as he moved to the mouth of the cave. Soul watched expectantly as Ichigo took a stance and braced his right arm. Soon afterward a rather large sword formed in Ichigo's right hand, to Soul's mild surprise.

"Huh." Soul murmured. There was no partner that he saw there. Nor was there any indication of soul resonance, although he wasn't the best person to judge that sort of thing. Still, this didn't appear to be any form of technique he was familiar with. Perhaps this was some form of advanced meister technique. That would make sense considering this guy was apparently supposed to teach Maka after the extra-curricular mission. However, there was a vague similarity to Chrona's form of meistery.

"Nice trick." Soul remarked. "So now what?

"Now we wait."

[-][-][-][-]

Notes From Days Long Past

Observations

[-][-][-][-]

May 31st 2013

Never written a research document before. Not sure what to do here. "Just watch them and write what happens" was what Urahara had said. Blame him if this is unclear.

I'll start with the kids here. Ever since Mizuiro saved that first kid, seven more little guys have ended up living in the shop. It looks like the hollows won't leave them alone unless they have proper protection. i.e. Yoruichi and Urahara.

And me in whatever way that I can help.

Anyway, I'll go in alphabetical order with the kid's names

First we have Aya Fukui. Brown hair, hazel eyes. Likes dresses. She's pretty quiet, usually spending most of her time doodling or coloring things. Also picks at the floor with her hands when she's waiting for things. She and Ururu get along pretty well actually. Urahara apparently found her alone in the Kansai district. We haven't found any trace of her parents yet.

Next we have Haruki Hamasaki. Black hair, brown eyes. Likes to have her hair in a ponytail. Really, really likes puzzles, blocks, and just about anything else that requires construction. Also, orange juice. She can't seem to get enough of that OJ. Keigo came across her in Karakura near a reported hollow encounter site. What Keigo was doing anywhere near a situation like that, I'll never know.

Then there's Hideyoshi Akiyama. Black hair, hazel eyes. Wears a fedora at all times. He's a pretty fidgety kid, hardly able to sit still for even ten seconds. It makes him a bit of a pain to watch, but he is fun to play sports games with. Also, I think he idolizes Urahara. It must be because of the hat. Orehime had found him wandering a graveyard somewhere. I still need to ask Hime why she was there.

Then we have Julian Deschamps. Blonde hair, green eyes. Likes to wear long robes and jackets. Has a very strong vocabulary for his age. Also a very good reader, he picked up on the Japanese language fairly quickly. It seems like every day he's looking for something new to learn. He even asked me to teach him martial arts. Urahara found him during a "business trip" to Europe. He won't say anymore than that.

Now we have Kaede. She won't say her last name. Black hair, one red eye and one blue eye. Likes the color black. She seems pretty sharp on the uptake, catching on to things quickly, and generally seeing through the white lies that adults tell. She also has a thing for bugs, especially crickets and cicadas. Yoruichi found her after resolving a hollow attack near a metro station. I think she ran away from home.

Next is Keiko Himura. Brown hair, blue eyes. Generally wears a red beret in her hair. She has a way of staring at things when she's in deep thought. It's a good natured stare, but the amount of time she can spend without blinking can be a bit creepy. She's also very good at origami, already having made several paper animals for Mizuiro. I think she's a bit taken with him. Then again, he was the one that found her in Karakura so it makes sense.

Last but not least we have Miu Nakahara. Red hair, green eyes. Wears glasses and a blue bandana in her hair. She's another fidgety one, with the flexibility of a gymnast the stamina of a marathon runner. Yoruichi's been putting that extra energy to good use, teaching her the basics of spiritual and physical combat. I'm also taking lessons from her, mostly because I need to learn this stuff, if I'm ever going to catch up to Ichigo and the others. Karin was the one to find Miu, after a hollow interrupted her soccer game while chasing the poor girl. It was a good thing Hitsugaya just happened to be in the area that day.

Well that's all of them I guess. As for what I've seen of them, nothing really special has happened. According to Mizuiro there's something weird about Keiko, but I didn't need him to tell me that. Anyway, they just seem like normal kids to me.

I do like them though.

Anyway, nothing spectacular to report today, unless you count OJ spills and broken windows. Yeah Hideyoshi broke one of the windows while trying to show Miu the proper way to throw a baseball. To be fair Jinta broke three more while showing them his "amazing super bat technique" So don't be too hard on them.

Tatsuki Arisawa

[-][-][-][-]

More to come…

Was it enjoyable?

Or perhaps not?

Either way inquiring minds want to know


	7. Shadow of Desire

I do not own Bleach or Soul Eater universes, nor do I intend to garner revenues from the use  
of their characters or universes

[-][-]

Shinigami Chronicles

Act 1: Hollow Eater

Chapter 7: Shadow of Desire

[-][-]

Maka stood alone, skirting the edge of a deep canyon under a starlit night somewhere in Death Valley. Her posture and form had shifted from haggard and tired to alert and stimulated, a wild yet darkly focused expression on her visage as she stared down into the valley. She was leaning forward in an eccentric manner, somehow managing to hold her precarious position and posture despite having more than half of her body extended past the edge of the canyon.

Yet no fear registered in those emerald eyes as they scoured the valley walls. No, her ardent sweeping gaze radiated an eager anticipation that flew in the face of such concepts as fear and doubt. In short, she was hungry, and at the moment that was all that mattered.

"There you are" She murmured with a smile as her gaze fell upon what appeared to be a cavernous indentation halfway down her side of the canyon wall. "A lost soul, waiting just for me."

She then allowed herself to topple forward off the edge of the canyon, hatchet in hand as she tumbled end over end through the air, her smile never wavering for even a second. Her seemingly uncontrolled fall continued until she was moments away from passing the entry to the cavern.

Flowing out of the tumble with what could only be described as instinctual fluidity, her hatchet found its way to the cliff face, digging deep into the sandstone and shale. Her descent slowed considerably as she fell into an awkward position, sliding down the cliff face with her body at a forty five degree angle below where her hatchet was lodged, her feet loosely planted on the cliff wall. Her chest was to the wall, her head looking downward with her free hand reaching in that same direction as well.

She came to a halt just in front of the cavern entrance, clinging to her hatchet with one hand, as the rest of her body hung down past the upper lip of the cave. A cheschire grin formed on her visage as she raised a hand to her brow in a searching gesture, sweeping the cavern with wild eyes.

She wasn't searching for very long as her opponent made no pretention at hiding from her. There standing in the middle of what looked like a path through the multitudinous stalagmites that lined the cave, was an orange haired man, holding a rather large sword above his head like a beacon.

"Ha!" the more than slightly disturbed girl cried as she dislodged her hatchet from the cavern's upper lip and fell to the ground in a wild flailing manner, landing on three limbs in a rather animalistic pose, hatchet upraised in her left hand. "Soul Meat!"

Ichigo frowned as he tightened his grip on his blade. There was no mistaking it: The eyes and the hair matched those of the girl named Maka. Her innocent resolve was nowhere to be seen, however. If this was anything like his own experiences with hollowification, the Maka he was warily watching at this moment was some facet of her persona that was overshadowing the rest of Maka's soul. Hopefully there was something in there for him to cast light upon, although, even if there was, it was still going to be hard. Dealing with the internal soul conundrums of others was a weaker aspect of Ichigo's repertoire as a soul reaper.

"This is gonna be messy." Ichigo murmured with a frown, eyes locked on his now grinning opponent.

To this Maka replied with a perverse giggle, suddenly leaping forward. She crossed the distance between her and Ichigo in one bound, rearing back with her small weapon to hack at Ichigo's shoulder. It was a haphazard attack that Ichigo dodged easily, sidestepping Maka's flying slice and stepping into a firm swing with the blunt end of his enormous blade. The counter attack caught Maka in midair, striking squarely in the small of her back as she passed Ichigo.

The disturbed girl gave a surprised "oof" as she was thrown forward through the air, her back now to her opponent. It appeared however, that she was not entirely fazed by that attack, landing lightly on three limbs for a mere half-second before launching herself into a turning backwards lunge, her hatchet brandished for a horizontal strike.

The quickness of Maka's unorthodox rebound caught Ichigo off-guard, as he just managed to raise his blade in time to protect his neck from Maka's attack. However, as Ichigo moved to make a counter attack, Maka hooked the notch of her hand axe's handle on Ichigo's oversized blade, utilizing Ichigo's strength as well as her own to fling herself away from the orange haired swordsman as he swung his blade in retaliation. Bounding away with a series of wild twists and leaps, Maka continued her retreat, Leading Ichigo into and around the cavern's multitudinous stalagmites that jutted out from the ground.

Soul watched this all from behind a set of stalagmites that were nearer to the cavern's holding facility entrance, a dark expression on his visage. He'd seen Maka like this once before, back during Asura's release when they had drawn upon the black blood to face off against Chrona. However, there was something different about it this time. Back then, Maka's movements were entirely wild and nonsensical, her body running off of a form of instinctual madness. At the time, Maka herself was preoccupied with quelling Chrona's madness through soul resonance, and had to let her body run on autopilot. The black blood, acting as a conduit for random thoughts and tangents that appeared in Maka's subconscious, allowed her to fight Chrona physically while she used her conscious mind to deal with Chrona's soul directly. At least, that was how Maka had explained it to him a few days after that encounter. Maka had also called it a rather messy and embarrassing fight, much preferring her usual quick and aggressive yet precise attack style.

This time however, Maka's movements, though apparently instinctual, appeared to be far more controlled and directed than the crazed and confused movements that she'd displayed during Asura's release. Her movements were lighter, sharper, evoking a wildly flexible control. It was as though this style had incorporated elements of Maka's original and preferred methods of attack. He wasn't quite sure what that meant, and that worried him a bit.

In any case, Maka's wild movements were going to make the task of catching her to try and talk her down a bit of a feat, even with Ichigo doing his best to tire her out. Maybe if he called out to her that would be enough to get her to take back control from whatever it was that was in her.

Just as Soul thought this Red's familiar voice chimed in from the back of his mind. "Then why not call out to her now?"

Soul frowned, attempting to ignore the little red imp. Undeterred by Soul's non-response the imp continued. "Why not try now, if you think it can work? You know her. You know the strength of her soul. You know that it would take less than a word from you to snap her out of this. So why not now?"

Soul said nothing as he crept behind a rather large stalagmite, the fight between Ichigo and Maka nearing the cavern entrance.

Red chuckled "You liked it didn't you? When she was maddened. The wild freedom she gained. The thing you've been cultivating in her all this time. A freedom to act on feeling. To ride on emotion. On Instinct. "

Soul scowled as he watched Maka twirl to the right of Ichigo, throwing an upward cut with her hatchet at the end of the spin. His scowl only deepened as she barely managed to dance out of the way of Ichigo's counter attack with the broad side of his blade.

"Shut up, Red" Soul growled as he darted in closer to the fight, taking care to stay within the shadows of the stalagmites.

"Isn't that why you wanted to play her that song in the first place? To see her dance? To see her move to the dark rhythm of instinct? Of your instinct?"

"I said shut up." Replied, continuing his clandestine approach.

"That's why you won't play it for anyone else isn't it? It ruins it. Ruins your creative vision. Or perhaps it's something more carnal than that?"

"Red, if you won't shut up, I'll shut you up myself."

To this Red laughed perversely. "I'm just telling you what you already know."

"It's not like that." Soul replied biting the inside of his cheek as he stopped within five meters of Ichigo and Maka's fight "I'm not like that."

"Oh you poor Soul." Red said with a disappointed timbre in his voice. "So wrapped up in your own façade that you don't even know your own desires."

"I know enough." Soul murmured.

"I wonder." Red continued, his diminutive figure suddenly standing on the side of the stalagmite Soul was hiding behind. He grinned as he locked his gaze with Soul's "Is that why you won't acknowledge what your favorite flavor of soul is?"

"Damn it Red!" Soul exclaimed thrusting a warding hand at the little red goblin. "Shut up! Shut the hell up!"

And just as suddenly as the little red demon had appeared he was gone, as though he had never existed in the first place.

Soul allowed himself a calming breath, attempting to regain his composure. However, that composure was short lived, as a wild cross between a perverse giggle and ecstatic laughter assaulted his ears. He turned just in time to see Maka bounding towards him in an erratic zigzagging path, Ichigo chasing after her with his sword upraised.

"Soul!" Ichigo cried as he sprinted in behind the disturbed girl. "Look out!"

Soul frowned, doing his best to maintain some modicum of his cool as he centered himself. He knew better than to try and avoid Maka completely. In this state, she was too quick for that. No, only one thing would be quick enough.

Soul clenched his fists to steady himself as he cried "Maka! Calm down already!"

Despite Soul's ardent request Maka continued her approach, tackling Soul to the ground and pinning him down at the chest with her legs. Her axe was raised towards the ceiling of the cave, her free arm braced against the cavern floor in preparation for a killing blow.

Ichigo's voice became a cross between a growl and a roar as he raised his pace to an even higher level, momentarily releasing his blade with his left hand to undo the limiter band on his right arm. As he did so he reared his blade back in preparation to cleave Maka in two. There was a frenzied look in Ichigo's eyes as he reared his blade back for the attack. The look in his eyes was far more frightening to Soul than any form of killing blow that he could think of at the moment.

No doubt about it. If that man swung his blade at that moment, whatever he hit was going to die.

Soul raised two placating hands from his prone position, motioning for Ichigo to stop his advance. "Wait," he said carefully as he slowly brought his hands to Maka's shoulders. "Just wait."

At this Ichigo halted his attack, gaining a slight air of confusion as he lowered the angle of his blade slightly. However, he refrained from replacing the band.

Soul sighed in relief as he stared up into the pair emerald eyes that he knew so well. "Maka?" he murmured tightening his grip on her shoulders slightly. "You there?"

A surprised somewhat lost expression formed on Maka's visage as she returned Soul's gaze, naught but her harried exhalations escaping her slightly open mouth. Her loss slowly morphed into disdain as she realized what she'd intended to do only moments before. She began to shake her head dazedly in disbelief at the realization.

"Soul?" she murmured in a shaken voice. "I was—" She stopped halfway, biting back the rest of the sentence as her expression became markedly more worried. "I'm..." Maka trailed off once more only mouthing the words that would finish that sentence.

Soul opened his mouth to make a reply, but was interrupted by Ichigo's voice as the orange haired ex-reaper queried "You all right?"

Suddenly Maka stiffened, her worried expression giving way to a darkly wary one as her eyes darted towards the location of Ichigo's voice. "Who…?" She managed

"A friend" Soul replied as he leaned his head over to call out to Ichigo "Yeah, I'm alright." Soul paused a moment before allowing himself a small smirk. "It's not exactly my ideal situation, but I guess Miss Tiny Tits here will have to do for now."

It was at that moment that miffed realization crossed Maka's visage, as she no doubt realized the suggestive position she was in. Soul only barely caught the transition to pure irritation as Maka's patented "Maka Chop" that followed hammered his head into the ground.

This final act of annoyance, appeared to be all that Maka had energy left to do, as she promptly collapsed on top of Soul after the chop. It resulted in an unintended follow-up to the attack, as Maka's forehead crashed into Soul's nose.

This garnered a sharp nasally "Ow!" from Soul as he clutched his face in pain. "Dammit Maka" He hissed as he moved to slide his partner off of him. "You're violent even when you're knocked out."

Ichigo chuckled to himself as he watched Soul unceremoniously hoist the unconscious Maka on to his shoulder. He could just hear the demon weapon's muttered complaints about how heavy she was.

"They're partners, huh?" Ichigo murmured shaking his head. "I guess my dysfunctional relationship with Rukia was somewhat normal after all." There was something vaguely terrifying about that statement, but Ichigo couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

"So what now?" Soul asked turning to face Ichigo

"To containment." Ichigo said as he buckled his limiter bands back into place. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us."

[-]

Somewhere deep inside the hollowed walls of Shibusen, a dark figure stood alone inside a bare and expansive room, whose only accoutrements were a set of iron-wrought arches and candle stands lined up on either side of a deep red carpet that led to the center of the room. It was there, atop an upraised plateau of marble that a rather strange entity, whose ragged black robed form contrasted sharply with his comically large white blocky hands, stood. The true nature of his body was something of a mystery as no indication of legs, arms or indeed, any humanoid appendages could be seen beyond the folds of his dark attire. The immense mirror that hung in the air beside him served only to enhance this fact, clearly showing that no side of his body conformed to a solid structure. Only a mask possessed of color and design qualities similar to his immense hands, gave any indication that the being was even remotely human. And even there, no face could be seen, with only a dark pervasive void residing behind its ocular sockets.

He appeared to be in deep thought, holding the chin of his mask in one of his enormous hands as Sid made his way into the room.

"So strange." the masked being murmured in a surprisingly warm voice. "I just don't know why that happens."

Sid, who had come within a few meters of the upraised plateau, crossed his arms as he took an inquisitive stance. "Why what happens?"

At this, the dark robed being turned to face his visitor, the eyes of his mask narrowing thoughtfully as he flowed down off the plateau. "It's the same question I've been asking since the fall of Arachnophobia. " He lowered his hand from the chin of his mask "Why do they disappear?"

"The souls you mean?" Sid replied "I'm not sure if there's an answer to that, Death."

"There is." The masked being replied "And don't call me Death. That was my old name."

Sid shook his head "Shinigami roughly translates to death god. It's not all that different."

"There's a difference." Shinigami replied "So long as children train within these hallowed walls there will always be a difference."

"I don't know." Sid replied "Names mean what they mean. And those two names mean the same thing."

"Names are words" Shinigami replied "And words mean what we think they mean. The students here think of me as a leader, teacher, and protector. They call me Shinigami-sama. So here, in Shibusen, Shinigami-sama means leader, teacher and protector. " Shinigami's eyes became mirthful "The title is a little high flung for my tastes, but it's a bit nicer than 'bringer of death'"

"Fair enough." Sid said as he crossed his arms. "At any rate I came to give you my report."

"Ah yes, what can you tell of Ichigo's progress on situation with Chrona and Maka?" Shinigami queried "I trust he's taking good care of my students?"

"So far at least." Sid answered, crossing his arms. "He's still hasn't met Chrona yet."

"And Maka?"

"Not sure on that one either." Sid crossed his arms. "I sent Ichigo off to meet her. I would've taken more steps to make sure they met without a hitch, but there were several other orders of business that needed taking care of."

"Busy as always" Shingami nodded "Don't forget to take it easy every once in awhile. You may already be deceased, but I know you're still capable of becoming dead tired ."

"I never stopped until the job was done." Sid replied. "That's the kind of man I was. Speaking of reliable people, how's Spirit taking the whole Maka hollowification thing?"

Shinigami brought one enormous finger to his mask in a shushing gesture. "He doesn't know yet."

"You didn't tell him?"

"I want to know as much as I can about this situation before we divulge the information to him. I won't stand for it if the information we give him is in error. I owe him that much."

"That's all well and good, but will he be able to focus with that on his mind?"

Shinigami nodded to this. "He's no stranger to imminent loss. He will, for all intents and purposes, appear to be completely lost and distraught. But," Shinigami proffered a single finger in an annotative gesture. "When the time comes for him to do his job, he will do it to the best of his ability, regardless of the situation. That's why he's my right hand scythe. I can always count on that red-haired womanizer.

"I'll trust your judgment then." Sid said with a shrug "At any rate, Stein's still working on figuring out the soul Ichigo found the other night. He's made some progress, but it doesn't look like anything within the standard realms of closed soul designation.

Shinigami's eye's narrowed thoughtfully "And in the realm of open souls?"

Sid shook his head "It's too early to tell. Stein said that its wavelength was fairly chaotic, which would suggest that its something that at least shares some of the open soul's properties, but it still looks like a closed soul."

"Strange." Shinigami murmured, momentarily stroking the chin of his mask. "I suppose we'll just have to wait and see." He lowered his disembodied hand from his mask. "Anything else to report?"

"Yeah." Sid replied "On the matter of the mission to the village in Czech. We've got some very bad news. First off, the golem was real. Not an illusion, brought on by insanity."

"I see." Shinigami "Were your men able to contain the golem?"

"Yeah." Sid replied "They did that but that golem was just the tip of the iceberg."

"So I gathered." Shinigami replied "Weaponized golems haven't existed for a long time."

"This one wasn't weaponized." Sid said with a shake of his head. "The golem was being controlled by a demon weapon chainsaw named Gericko. From what was said in the reports, it sounded like he'd been waiting for the opportunity to let it run loose. However, if it were only him, this wouldn't be as much of an issue.

"Of course." Shinigami replied "Gericko was one of her followers, wasn't he? A servant of Arachne. I take that as meaning that she has finally decided to reveal herself."

"Exactly." Sid said with a nod. "The golem was her hiding place. No doubt she's already been gathering her forces in secret."

"No doubt." Shinigami concurred "What about your contacts? This sounds like more of a dangerous situation than they could've handled."

"Justin was sent in as reinforcements. He was the one to report in." Sid answered. "Sakkon's original body was lost during the fight, so we won't be able to debrief him until we replace it here. As for his friend, Kyouren, he disappeared almost as soon as Justin arrived. We don't have any more details than that."

"I see." Shinigami said stroking the chin of his mask thoughtfully. "Let me know when Sakkon is ready to make his report."

"Will do." Sid replied, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Well, that's all I have to say. I'll be leaving if there's nothing else you need done. I've got to catch up on what Ichigo's been doing for the last few hours.

Shinigami nodded. "Inform me as soon as you make contact." He then proffered the enormous index finger of his right hand in an annotative gesture. "And don't worry about your other duties for awhile. I didn't bring the Scythes here just for the extra company, though I do enjoy their presence."

"Don't worry." Sid said with a smile as he turned on his heel to leave "I'll take care of this hollow business."

As Sid left the expansive white room, Shinigami raised an enormous hand to the chin of his mask once more, only to think better of it a moment later and raise the hand to scratch the brow of his mask as he returned to the realm of his own thoughts. "Hollow business." He murmured with a slight chuckle. "Haven't heard him use that term in a long, long time."

[-]

The first thing she noticed when she awoke was that she was dead tired. She felt entirely drained, more so than…before. Oddly, she was very certain that "before" was a short time ago, yet she couldn't recollect when or where "before" was. Regardless, now was not then, and then was not now. Finding out where she was at present took priority.

Following this notion she came upon the realization that an odd tingling sensation was flowing from the small of her spine to the rest of her body, a cold prickling sting rolling through her numb, sluggish muscles as the tingle made its sojourn to her fingers and toes. It felt like the entirety of her circulatory system had been constricted by a vice or tourniquet, denying her body the energy it needed to move.

Even her eyes were largely unresponsive as she struggled to open their impossibly heavy lids. It didn't help that the lights that awaited them in the world beyond were of scalding brightness. She found herself flinching away from what appeared to be the burning gaze of a set of fluorescent lights that hung several feet in the air above her.

She gave a small groan, blinking her eyes several times as she made an effort to sit upright. This turned out to be a fair bit more difficult than she'd expected, as she only barely succeeded at raising her head two inches above what she now realized was a pillow before she was forced to let gravity take its course. She scowled in annoyance as her head flopped heavily into the pillow. She hated feeling this weak.

It was at that moment that she realized that she didn't know how she'd gotten here. Further more that she couldn't remember what she'd been doing for the last…hour? No more like day. There were fleeting glimpses. A glimpse of herself trudging through the desert. The sounds of Shibusen's streets in the middle of the night and the feel of cold rough cobblestone on her feet. The feel of her mother's picture in her hands as she clasped it to her chest amidst the clothes, books and hair implements she'd scattered across the room looking for the portrait.

Wait. No. She hadn't done that, had she? If she had, it didn't make sense. She always knew where the portrait was. She was the one who hid it. She'd hidden it away so Spirit would stop coming over to gaze at it in his forlorn way. There was no reason for her to search so frantically for it. Not when she knew exactly where it was. Yet somehow she knew that she'd been the culprit who'd thrashed the room. That knowledge and her memory were fractured like the wistful remembrances of dreams, lost to the ether of the subconscious, but ever present, waiting just beyond the edge of perception.

"Always in the last place you look. The one place you can't. Made all the more beautiful for its nearness, though one may never again relish its presence in full."

Maka frowned. She recognized that voice. She vaguely remembered something akin to a conversation with it in some bright hot place, although she was unsure of when this had happened, or what had transpired during said conversation.

Maka swallowed, squinting into the light above as she waited for her eyes to focus "Who are you?"

There was a slight chuckle in the voice's reply. "You're the only one who can answer that."

Maka frowned. That answer felt annoyingly familiar. "I don't know you."

"Amazing how you can speak the truth and tell a lie at the same time." The voice remarked "I wish I could do that."

Maka's face contorted in confusion as she blinked the last of the bleariness out of her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"You know me." The voice remarked "You just don't know my name."

Maka attempted to sit upright once more so that she could scan the room for whomever it was that was talking to her. The sounded like it was coming from somewhere close by. Unfortunately Maka found that she still hadn't the strength for it, settling for turning her head to the right.

"I would if you told me it." Maka said impatiently as her eyes took in the details of the right side of the room. Aside from the bleach white beds that lined the rusted steel walls of the room there didn't appear to be any signs of life there. Although it was hard to tell as the light above her appeared to be the only light source in the room. The rest of the room was obscured by an unsettlingly bleak yet familiar darkness. She ignored the nagging feeling in the back of her mind that insisted that she was forgetting something very important, continuing her conversation with the familiar voice. "I don't think it's that hard for you to tell me your name."

"Harder than you might think." The voice returned "I don't know what my name is."

"Then how would you know if I guessed right." Maka retorted as she turned her head to the left, sweeping her eyes across that side of the room. Yet it appeared that the left side was identical to the right, although what lay within the shadowy abyss on either side was beyond her.

"I'd know." The voice replied "As would you."

"Right" Maka returned tartly, her patience having run dry quite some time ago. "What good does knowing your name do me anyway?" Maka scowled in frustration as she thrust the back of her head into her pillow, turning her gaze upward into the hanging fluorescents once more.

Now that her eyes had adjusted, she could tell that the light above her was of the circular variety, with a bed of ten glowing bulbs crammed together in its many holed silver frame. She hadn't noticed before, but it appeared to be swaying slightly, gently lolling back and forth under some unknown force of impetus. The lamp's trajectory shifted slightly just as she realized this, become vaguely elliptical in its path.

"I can offer only one thing." The voice noted.

Now Maka was certain. The voice was coming from above her, emanating From the hanging lamp fixture. Maka strained her eyes and neck to try and get a better view, but found both to be stubbornly rooted in place. The tingling sensation she'd felt when she had awakened was beginning to intensify, her body feeling like it was being stung by an army of bees. She grimaced in discomfort as she queried in a strained voice. "What's that?"

"An end to loss." The voice answered, as Maka struggled to keep her eyes open. "And to weakness."

Maka opened her mouth to make a reply but found that the words wouldn't leave her lips as they had become numb and unresponsive. She could the air she would've used to speak, catching in her windpipe, as it began to close up on itself. Her consciousness was slowly ebbing away, her senses deadening even further than they already had.

Just as Maka's eyesight began to blur, she saw the silhouette of head peak out from the behind the swaying fixture above her. She could barely see its appraising amethyst eyes as its long locks of bleach white hair obscured them. Its complexion was just as white as its hair, its black lips very much standing out against its skin. However, all of that was merely a side note to one particular fact that put Maka on edge: the thing had her face.

"I'll be in touch." The thing said with a mischievous grin as the last of Maka's consciousness drifted away. "Sweet dreams."

These were the last words Maka heard before she returned to the empty darkness that lay behind her eyelids. Soon afterward the prickling twinge of blood flow constriction increased, growing from the stings of a thousand bees to the stabs of a thousand knives, constant and unrelenting. She opened her mouth to cry out in pain, but her lips wouldn't comply her lips clamped in place by some invisible cover. her trachea seemed to constrict even further with the attempted cry, causing her to almost choke on her own words.

Then, as suddenly as it had increased, the stabbing pains in her body disappeared, leaving in their wake a shaky rubbery streams of weakness, that ran all throughout her torso arms and legs. Her throat, though strained and raw, was no longer constricted, life giving oxygen flowing through it with relative ease once more. Oddly, it appeared that the air was being fed into her lungs by some extraneous means, as she could feel it flowing inward across her tongue, despite the fact that she was certain she was exhaling at the moment.

"Looks like the treatment worked." came a voice she didn't recognize. "Looks like she'll be okay."

Maka opened her eyes tentatively, gratified to find that her lids were working properly now. She found that the light beyond was just as bright as before, however, the dark silhouette of someone's head obscured the blinding beam, allowing her eyes to adjust at their own pace.

"Maka?" the silhouette said in a voice that she very much recognized. "You alright?"

Maka attempted to make a reply, but found that it was muffled under what appeared to be breathing apparatus. She scowled in annoyance attempting to bring her hands up to remove the mask, only to find that they were strapped down at her sides. She growled in frustration at the predicament, the fierceness of her utterance only growing as she realized her legs were strapped down as well.

This garnered a rakish grin and chuckle from the silhouette which Maka recognized to be Soul now that her eyes had adjusted to the light above.

"Yeah, it's you alright." Soul said with a laugh. "Welcome back."

To this Maka gave an exasperated sigh, wanting very much to display her frustration on Soul's head, but settling for the comfort of knowing that she was in the presence of one of her most trusted friends. She wasn't quite sure what all was going on, or what she'd been doing for the past…day? Maybe two? Whatever the case, Soul was here with her. That was enough to raise her spirits a little. Only a little.

A moment later an Orange haired, brown eyed man came into view, his hands moving in to assumedly remove the breathing apparatus. "You're Maka right?"

"Yeah" Maka replied, warily eyeing the once substitute shinigami. "Who are you?"

"I'm Ichigo." Ichigo said with a nod as he unlatched and removed the breathing apparatus. "Shibusen's hollow specialist."

[-][-][-][-]

Notes From Days Long Past

Last Will and Testament

[-][-][-][-]

Dear whoever is reading this,

As I am writing this, I am making the last preparations before heading off to my doom. Due to an unfortunate series of circumstances, I have been forced to conform to the whims of a crazy woman, who doesn't seem to care about her own life. She is also heading off to her doom, dragging my best friend and me along with her. And as much as I'd like to resist, I know the end result will be the same as if I don't: Death.

You don't believe me? You think that's an extreme reaction? Well I guess it would seem that way, considering I haven't said anything about the circumstances. As my newly selected heir, you should know why I'm about to die.

But where to start? Well I guess we'll start with what's going to kill me if I do go. They're called hollows. Weirdly shaped ghost things that eat souls. I know, I didn't believe in them at first either. That is until I almost died after stumbling into a battle between a hollow and a shinigami. The shinigami called it an arrancar or espada, or something like that.

What's a shinigami? They're kind of like superhero ghosts. Except a lot more scary to be around, cause they don't care what gets in their way when they're beating up hollows. Most of my friends say they're here to protect us. Even if they are, I still think they're scary, rude, violent and obnoxious. Here's hoping none of them find this letter before I'm already dead.

Anyway the hollows had started grabbing and eating children's souls a little while back. Now I thought the smartest thing to do would've been to let the shinigami handle it. However, according to a certain crazy girl I know, they were too busy to notice. It was a true enough statement. Their war is still going on right now. The War of Masks I think is what they're calling it. According to Ichigo (my friend who is a substitute shinigami. Don't ask. It's complicated) it started only months after the Winter War. I knew that the war was going on, and that the shinigami were strained because of it, but I also know that I'm not a shinigami, and that I don't have special powers.

Tatsuki didn't and still doesn't care about that. She threatened unbearable pain and suffering if I didn't try and help. I really should've said no. I really don't like life threatening situations. More so than I don't like pain. But I couldn't just let her and Mizuiro do it alone. What kind of friend would I be if I did that?

So we started finding and gathering the kids in a safe house, hiding them from the hollows. The work was dangerous, and it seemed like it was never over, but at the same time, it felt like we were actually doing something right. We were helping out the shinigami. Helping out Ichigo. Though he wasn't there(He's never around these days. Don't ask. Long story) I felt like we were finally being useful to him. Finally making our friendship with him worth something. Maybe he might even that we're friends out loud.

Then they took Keiko and Mizuiro. Just snatched them up right from under our noses. It took us awhile to find where they took them, but we eventually did.

They're in a place called Hueco Mundo. It's full of hollows, arrancars, menos and who knows what else. It's a dangerous place, where no living soul should go. Unless they want to die.

And Tatsuski insists that we go there. I know the shinigami aren't here to help, so we can't ask them, but Chad, Ishida and Orihime said that they'd go (they're also kind of like super heroes. Don't ask. I'm not even sure what's going on with them) I knew the moment Orihime said she was going, Tatsuski would want to follow her. What I don't get is why she's asking me to come.

I don't have powers. Or training. I'm willing to admit that I'm a coward and I don't like fighting. She knows that just as well as anyone. I'd just die the moment I got into danger. I know I would.

Then again, she didn't threaten me this time. She only asked, and then left me to think about it. I don't know what that means, and I'm not sure what I feel about that. It's scary when she's threatening me, it's true, but, this open ended question, with no ultimatum really scares me. Especially since it's her that's asking.

Why? Because in the end, I decided to go with the stupid decision. I can't make the other choice. I can't not go. What kind of friend would I be if refused this favor to the only people who've ever been willing to tolerate me for more than a week? I'd be some sort of horrible thing that is farthest away from being a friend. I'd be some kind of non-friend. Not only does that sound super lame, but I'd never live it down if that's what I became. I'd hate myself forever, and so would they.

So I'm going off to die in Hueco Mundo. If the others don't come back after I've died, I leave all of my earthly possessions to you. This also includes my annoying older sister. Take good care of her and make sure she doesn't get into trouble with the shinigami. (She has a thing for baldies. Don't ask, cause I'm not telling)

Oh and the second choice I could've made that would've killed me anyway?

Don't ask. Cause I think you already know.

Signed,

Keigo Asano.

[-][-][-][-]

More to come…

Was it enjoyable?

Or perhaps not?

Either way, inquiring minds want to know

Ciao for now.


	8. Observational Exposition

I do not own Bleach or Soul Eater, nor do I intend to garner any revenues from the use of their characters and universes.

[-][-]

Shinigami Chronicles

Act 1: Hollow Eater

Chapter 8: Observational Exposition

[-][-]

"Fascinating."

This must have been the hundredth time that he'd uttered this word and other variations of it in the course of what had probably been a day or two. He couldn't be certain, as he'd lost track of the hours in the darkness of his basement lab, lit only by the various measuring instruments and computers that resided there. Sitting in his well worn rolling chair amid the faded glow of monitors and soul irradiated measuring tools, Stein found himself marveling once again at the intricacies of the dynamics of the soul, and just how varied they were. Even now after years of study and exposure to their many different forms, years of observing and cataloguing their interactions, there still existed secrets about them that remained locked away from those that studied them. Waiting to be discovered. Waiting to be unveiled and examined. Waiting to be dissected.

No. Not dissected. This soul was one of a kind. To tear it apart at the seams would be a travesty to the scientific community. And really, what would that show him? It wasn't like souls had organs, although he was somewhat curious as to the inner structuring of the grey soul's shell layers…

Stein frowned at the turn of his own thoughts. No. No dissection. Not even one imaginary incision. He had to avoid such acts if only to keep himself sane enough to make clear and effective observations.

He couldn't help but be a little elated, however. He had discovered why the soul's wavelength was so erratic. It was because it wasn't technically one wavelength that he'd been observing. Rather there were several inside it, manifesting at random. Sometimes weakly, other times strongly, but almost never alone. And never in concert.

It was a well known fact that souls in general only had one wavelength within them, whether they were of the closed or open subtype. Even open souls, with their erratic and varying energy levels had a singular wavelength that they would always eventually return to.

"But you." Stein murmured with a slight smile as he breathed the fumes of his cigarette out of his nose. "You're having a hard time doing that, aren't you?" He took a long drag on his cigarette, the soul hanging mutely within its observation capsule, giving nary an answer to the screw headed scientist. The smoke of Stein's cigarette came out on a languid breath, the scientist chuckling to himself amidst the fumes. "Not for lack of trying though." Stein said as he turned his gaze to one of the glowing monitors where representations of the different frequencies and wavelengths that were appearing in the subject were on display. The number of differing wavelengths had hit a maximum amount only hours before now, and was, at present, slowly but surely decreasing one wavelength at a time. Each one that disappeared would have a spike in activity before disappearing, as though it were giving one final death cry before giving up the ghost.

An odd notion, but one that seemed fitting nonetheless. Of course, such a notion created a veritable avalanche of related questions. If only he could understand how this soul had become so heavy with wavelengths of such varying frequencies in the first place.

"What are you?" he murmured grasping and cranking the screw in his head "And what are you becoming?"

"It's not going to answer, you know."

Stein halted the idle cranking of the metal protrusion in his head, his intrigued smile devolving into a dark frown. It was with some trepidation that he acknowledged the fact that he recognized that wily feminine voice.

"But there is one way," The voice continued, "to answer all of those questions of yours."

The same trepidation that followed his recognition of whom the voice belonged to, accompanied his implicit understanding of the fact that the Lady of Gorgon was not really there. His frown deepened as he silently removed the cigarette from his mouth.

The witch's voice spoke on, a seductive timbre filtering into her tone. "Get a good look at its insides."

Slowly he brought the cigarette back to his lips, taking another drag on it before focusing his gaze on the frequency and wavelength monitor. His hands found their way to a notebook and a pen as he attempted to busy himself, jotting down the numbers associated with the data that was on display before him. The woman in his head paid no heed to his actions.

"Pull it apart. Cut it." She intoned, her voice withering into a desirous whisper, "_Dissect_ _it_."

In that moment, a cold invasive touch alighted upon his shoulder. The hand of one he so desired. One he wished he could refuse yet yearned to indulge. One he would as soon destroy as embrace. He felt himself tensing and unraveling at once, as the woman's cruel caress snaked its way about his neck, the cool sensation of her touch draining what warmth remained in him. An unbidden, perverse smile tugged at the edge of his lips as Stein allowed the fumes of his cigarette to escape on a breathless sigh.

He could not ignore her.

Stein sat back in his chair, averting his eyes from the view of his monitor for a moment, realizing that what had started as the feel of a hand about his neck had developed into an entire arm draped across his shoulders.

"Such a rare specimen deserves a full examination." Stein murmured attempting to ignore the second arm he felt wrapping around his chest. "There are more tests to be run, Medusa."

"You've run all of the tests you can." Medusa replied "At least, all of the ones that don't involve more…_ invasive_ methods."

Stein shook his head "It's a one of a kind soul. It needs to be preserved."

"Really?" queried the witch, her hand moving to caress her scientist's chin. "With your knowledge, it wouldn't be hard to make another." Stein could feel her hair brushing against the side of his cheek as her voice moved in closer to his ear. "Perish the thought of if you were to combine it with mine."

Stein began to shiver with anticipation, the perverse smile he'd been withholding manifesting itself. "We could do that." He whispered, a whetted desire burbling beneath his words. "Couldn't we?"

"And much more," the witch concurred, a she lay her head upon his shoulder. "so much more."

Stein found himself relishing the feeling, lounging in the darkness of his basement facility, adrift in the possibilities. Adrift in the mysteries of another. His other.

And suddenly in a blinding flash of light, it was over. Gone was the weight of the witch on his shoulder, the cool sensation of her touch remaining only in memory.

"Stein? Are you down here?" The name was spoken with a kind unassuming warmth that he was certain Medusa could never truly intone. It was a timbre of speech that Stein immediately recognized. The soul scientist blinked his eyes blearily, unconsciously dousing his cigarette on the armrest of his chair as he swiveled it in the direction of the woman's voice.

A relatively tall and blond haired woman stood at the threshold of his facility, her golden locks falling across her shoulders intrepidly with the querying tilt of her head. The good-natured curiosity of her expression was hardly diluted at all by the lightning emblazoned patch that covered her right eye. There were very few women who could manage to project such honest warmth. Especially in the circles that Stein frequented.

"Marie." Stein managed, realizing with some unease just how easily he'd allowed himself to be whisked away by the apparitions of his own mind. "I didn't hear you come in."

"You look a little harried." Marie said with a worried look in her eyes. "Have you been getting enough sleep?"

Stein frowned. It made him uncomfortable to have others worry about him. Marie tended to be quite open about such things, which oft times caught him off guard. "I can't really say." Stein replied giving his head screw a crank. "Lost track of time." The edge of his lips turned up in a half smile. "Occupational hazard I guess."

"Honestly, Stein" Marie said with a shake of her head "It's no wonder you need glasses, spending so much time researching in the dark." Marie sighed, "You should turn on the lights every once in awhile."

"I'll take it under consideration" Stein replied. There was a part of him that wanted to deserve the warm natured smile she gave him for his reply, but he knew himself to be a creature of habit. Even if he was certain that he should turn the lights on to help stave off the imaginings of his own mind, he knew that he probably wouldn't in the end. He leaned to the side in his chair as he returned to his usual laissez-faire composure. "So what brings you here?"

Marie crossed her arms, her visage taking on a more serious expression "Shinigami-sama wanted me to tell you that he's called a meeting for the Scythes and upper alumni of Shibusen. It sounded urgent."

"Huh." Stein murmured as he stood from his chair "That's hardly ever a good sign."

[-]

In her time at Shibusen, Maka had found that there were a certain few things that she was hard pressed tolerate. Amongst these were shallow men, lack of effort, lack of self-control, and her father. At the moment however, she would've accepted the presence of any of these marginally intolerable things and ideas, save for the last one, if that meant gaining the ability to move again.

Thankfully, it wasn't due to weakness within her own body that she couldn't move. No, the contraption to which she was fastened had somehow replenished her soul to the point that she was fully aware of her surroundings once again. Unfortunately, the large metallic clamps that held her arms and legs made any notions of movement impossible.

It didn't help that some form of complicated apparatus which bristled with tubes, wires and metallic protrusions was also firmly ensconced about her torso, forcing her to remain still upon the cold medical mattress to which it was attached.

To her left, Ichigo, the supposed hollow specialist, sat upon a small metal stool, his contemplative form framed in the stark white glow of the myriad fluorescent lights that hung from the ceiling of what Maka assumed was a quarantine facility. The old swordsman had been grilling Maka on what she remembered about what had apparently been two days worth of her wandering aimlessly through both Death City and Death Valley. Unfortunately that wasn't much.

"And that's all you remember" Ichigo asked with a frown, "Nothing else?"

"Yeah." Maka said with a nod of her head. "I woke up from a strange dream, then I was scouring my room for something, then I was barefoot in Shibusen during the middle of the night, then the desert, then I'm smashing Soul's face in."

"Oh sure, that's the part you remember." Soul muttered from his stool on the right side of Maka's bed. He massaged a red mark on his forehead with his right hand "Figures a violent girl like you would focus on that."

"Don't make me come over there Soul." Maka retorted with a look of annoyance.

"I'd like to see you try." Soul replied with a smug smile. "Those metal clamps on your arms and legs don't look like they're going anywhere."

"I'll find a way." Maka replied with a dangerous glare. She opened her mouth to say something else but was interrupted by Ichigo as he flicked her forehead with his index finger.

"Eyes on me, kid." Ichigo said, crossing his arms. "You've gotta tell me everything if I'm gonna help you. That's not gonna happen if you keep getting distracted." He gave Soul a warning look as he said this.

Soul's expression sobered a bit. "Couldn't resist."

"Try." Ichigo said simply, locking his eyes with Soul's.

Soul sighed, a somewhat resigned expression forming on his visage as he returned Ichigo's gaze. "Alright." He muttered, crossing his arms.

Ichigo showed his approval in a nod before he returned his gaze to Maka.

"So Maka." Ichigo said with narrowed eyes. "You said that you had a strange dream before this started. Can you remember anything from it?"

"It was a recurring dream." Maka began, a thoughtful frown forming upon her visage. "At least, it started out like the ones that I'd had before…"

She went on to explain the dream in as much detail as she could. From the faceless moon, to the dance of the sundry leaves, to the final glimmer in the darkness, she found that the details of the dream were far clearer to her than the details of her wanderings for past two days. As she transitioned from the dream of the leafless forest to her seemingly hunger born hallucinations of the spiral vine etched hatchet and the reflection that was not her own, she grew more and more unsettled by the relative clarity of these illusory moments when compared to those that erred closer to what she accepted as reality. She found that even her recent conversation with what had appeared to be a twisted version of herself felt more real than it should have.

"No matter what was happening I was always extremely tired." Maka frowned. "And hungry. Like I hadn't drank or eaten anything for days. Maybe that's why I was started hallucinating. I _had_ gone for at least two days without food or water in the desert."

Maka didn't really believe this, but there was a part of her that wanted it to be true. That hoped that this was merely a case of intense hunger and thirst. If only to prove that she wasn't losing her grip.

She reviled the mere thought of it. Losing the ability to distinguish the real and unreal. Losing control of her perception of reality. Such a loss would make her worse than Spirit, whose lack of self control was at least related to something tangible. Not that that justified his consistently irrepressible womanizing ways.

Maka began to stew silently about her father's uncontrollable compunctions, a rather annoyed pout forming upon her visage as she listed the red haired death scythe's many flaws in her head. Her focus elsewhere at the moment, Maka almost didn't notice as Ichigo shook his head with a thoughtful scowl.

"It has to be hollowification." Ichigo murmured under his breath, his eyes narrowing darkly. "The symptoms line up, but still something's different about this." Ichigo frowned crossing his arms in inquisitive irritation.

He opened his mouth to say something aloud but was interrupted by a high pitched funeral march blaring merrily from his pants pocket. An incredulous expression surfaced on Ichigo's countenance as he dug a cell phone out from it.

"That's the default ringtone?" Ichigo murmured under his breath as he held the phone in his hands.

"Yeah," Soul said with a smug little smile. "A real show stopper, huh?"

"Yeah." Ichigo replied blandly as he brought the phone to his ear. He paused for a brief moment, his frown deepening. "I'd better take this." He said as he moved to leave the area. "Can you hold the fort while I'm gone?"

"Sure, I guess." Soul answered. "Not much to watch here."

Maka, who had since ended her ruminations on the faults of her father, turned her head sharply at this remark. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Soul paused for a moment giving Maka an exaggerated once over before making his response. "No curves and no mountains. Not really much to look at if you ask me."

"You'll regret that when I finally get out of here." Maka growled. "Just you wait."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure of that." Soul replied smugly. "But right now, I'm gonna enjoy every second that you don't have access to 'Maka Chop' ammo."

[-]

Ichigo frowned as he made his way through the stone wrought halls of the containment facility, cellphone in hand at his side. There was definitely something different about Maka's condition. He recognized the early symptoms easily enough. The metaphorical dreams Maka had seemed to have all the earmarks of hollowification dreams. If her last vision of a twisted version of herself was true, then she was just now entering the second phase.

Back when Ichigo had first manifested his shinigami powers, Urahara had forced him to the second phase by severing his soul's connection with his body, thus causing his soul to sheer. It was while that was happening that Ichigo met his other white bodied self. He had never learned the yellow eyed apparition's name, although to be fair, he hadn't really tried. He was too busy doing what he could to keep his other self from taking full control to ask. And even if he had, he doubted he would've gotten a straight answer.

That Maka's other self was asking her to guess its name had him a little confused and slightly on edge. Zangetsu, when he'd first appeared, had done the same. Although both he and the white other had on multiple occasions, come close to killing him, Zangetsu was a separate entity from the other. Zangetsu usually appeared when Ichigo needed to draw on his power to protect himself or his friends. The white other would strike whenever Ichigo reached the edge of his ability to control that power. It was in those times that Ichigo's actions were no longer his own, as he was forced to play audience to the white other's ignominious deeds until he could wrest control back from the yellow eyed apparition.

That Maka's white other was behaving like Zangetsu did, yet stealing control of her body from her at the same time, was something Ichigo couldn't quite explain. At the very least, he wasn't familiar enough with the intricacies of soul dynamics to make a solid assumption.

Ichigo continued to mull over the subject of Maka's condition, moving forward through the facility's main hallway, silently passing steel wrought awnings and doorways as he walked. Were it not for the fact that Sid had greeted him with a wave and a "Hey, Ichigo" he might not have noticed the black ops zombie leaning on one of the hallway's stone ramparts.

"Hey Sid." Ichigo said "What's this about?"

"Just wanted to catch you up on current events" Sid answered, "There were some interesting developments on the mission that you, Maka and Soul were supposed to undertake."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed, "Interesting how?"

"Some old faces decided to show themselves." Sid gestured for the ex-reaper to take up a perch beside him on the wall. "How much do you remember about Arachne?"

Ichigo frowned, processing the name as he crossed his arms and let his back fall upon the wall. "Arachne. She was a witch right? Lead a cult?"

"Yeah" Sid replied with a nod "Although, it turned out that there was a lot more than just the one cult under her control."

"Is that right?" Ichigo asked with a questioning arch of the eyebrow, "I didn't hear much about her outside of the fact that she had a bone to pick with the reapers of Soul Society. I'd already been discharged from their ranks by then. Only information I got about matters of the world's souls at that time were in the form of rumors and whispers from the few reapers and sensitive souls that I still had contact with. I was dealing with a lot of… personal issues at the time so I didn't pay as much attention as I should have to all of it."

"All things considered, I'm surprised you even know her name." Sid noted. "The records from Death's archives say she didn't really become active until a good while after you sealed yourself away." Sid shifted his perch slightly "She was always very clandestine when it came to the movements of her organization."

Ichigo shrugged. "Guess I knew the right people." He frowned. "I wonder how many of them would've considered me to be the 'right person' to know back then?"

"Enough to make the statement true, I'd wager." Sid gave Ichigo a reassuring smile. "That's why you ended up here instead of dead, right?"

"Something like that." Ichigo replied, holding the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"Anyway," Sid continued, "that spider witch is back in business, so you're gonna have to lay low here for awhile. Don't want her catching wind of you or Maka. Could make for a lot of trouble if she found out there was still a shinigami alive, even if he lost his official title a long time ago."

"I don't like hiding, but Maka would've needed to stay here a while longer anyway." Ichigo said as he left the wall for a standing position. "We've got the stuff we need to keep her stable here, and the means to keep her from getting out if she loses control again." The old swordsman nodded his head resolutely. "This is probably the best place to keep her for now."

"Glad to hear it." Sid said as he also left his spot on the wall. "Speaking of Maka, what's her current state?"

"Better." Ichigo answered as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "I've got her soul semi-stabilized now. Once I'm sure she's stable enough to take the strain, I'll start her on the shinigami training regimen. With any luck, that should help her minimize the effects of the hollowification process."

"Then, you're making progress" Sid replied with a grin "Good."

"What about the other kid?" Ichigo asked, "That Chrona you were telling me about the other day."

"It's being handled." Sid said simply.

An incredulous scowl manifested within Ichigo's features "'Handled'?" Ichigo's eyes narrowed dangerously, "What do you mean 'handled'?"

Sid chuckled at Ichigo earnestness "I don't mean anything like that." The zombie smiled, "As much as we black ops types are prepared to carry them out, more… permanent solutions are still a last resort when dealing with Shibusen alumni and their allies."

Ichigo arched his eyebrow in a more than mildly baffled expression. "Then, what do you mean handled? You told me I was the last guy left with any knowledge about hollowification. If Chrona is going through the same thing that Maka is, you can't just put anyone on the job of working him through it."

"Believe me I know that. It's delicate business." Sid shook his head "Honestly, I was just as surprised as you were when I heard there was someone else. I gotta say, it was a lucky break. Although, I think Death knew all along."

Ichigo stood silent for a long moment, his eyes staring blankly towards some unknown focus. Someone else. There was someone else who knew about hollowification. It could've just been someone who studied the past, but if he was to believe what Sid had been telling him for the last few days, that information was hard to come by. The only other way for someone to know would be…

Ichigo's stare remained fixed on an unknown point in space as he half-murmured "Is this someone I know? I mean," He swallowed "Someone I knew?"

"Dunno." Sid replied frankly, "Death didn't say much beyond the fact that the guy exists and that he would put him to work." He sighed "Besides that, all I can say is that Death knows he'll help us of his own volition." Sid's expression became quite sober, "I hate to be callous, but who he is and whether you know him or not isn't something you should be concerned with right now. Maka needs your full attention."

"Right." Ichigo took a deep breath closing his eyes for a moment before letting it out. "I guess I was just hoping for a friend who remembered me."

"Aw Ichigo I'm hurt." Sid feigned being shot in chest. "Don't I count?"

Ichigo raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Hey, I didn't say you didn't." Ichigo chuckled "Although, it's kind of odd thinking of an undead man as a friend."

"Heh," The zombie operative said with a smirk "You're one to talk."

"Hey I'm not undead. I just have a gigai instead of a natural body. And besides, I'm not sickly and blue." Ichigo retorted, "It's a wonder you have any friends at all."

"I was never one to be deterred by things like appearances, or death." Sid returned with a grin, "That's the kind of man I was." With this the zombie clasped the old swordsman's shoulder with his hand. "Don't worry Ichigo, I'm sure you'll get to meet the guy, and I'm sure he'll remember you well."

"Thanks" Ichigo said with the small smile on the edge of his lips. "Well I guess I'd better get back, before Maka figures out a way to get at Soul through her restraints." His smile broadened, "It doesn't seem likely, but the determined glare she got whenever he insulted her makes me think she could probably find a way."

"She's a resourceful girl, that's for sure." Sid said with a nod. "I'll see you later then." He turned to leave, throwing a farewell wave over his shoulder. "Be sure to say hello to those two for me."

"Will do." Ichigo said as he went on his way back to the research facility.

[-]

The black amorphous figure known as Death stood at the center of is sanctum, surrounded by some of the most trusted members of the Shibusen alumni. They were, for the most part, students of his at one point or another, discovering and refining their own latent talents with his vigilant guidance. In some, like Azusa, he found elegance and precision. In others, like Marie, he found warmth and understanding. Be it the meticulous curiosity of those like Stein, or the adaptable fervor of others who took more after Spirit, there was a potential to be found and refined in every one of his students. That these Scythes who'd weathered the inception of Shibusen still stood before him today, well attired, well-trained and ready to do whatever they could for this world's souls warmed the masked being's heart.

It was because of them that he held on to the hope that this world would find equilibrium again.

He'd just finished briefing his not so young charges on the matter of Arachne's reappearance, Sakkon retelling the events that lead to Arachne's release, before Death began divvying out assignments to each of them with regards to reconnaissance of the witch's activities. As Death gave his closing remarks and dismissed them, Sakkon remained at Death's request.

Sakkon, having returned to his preferred human body, was clothed in a loose fitting diamond patterned T-shirt, whose blue and green color scheme did little to offset the faded green black jack visor he wore. He looked a bit young in stature and build, appearing to be in his early twenties, but the worried, yet ultimately accepting "what next" look in his eyes spoke to a personal experience that went far beyond his body's age.

"Look, if this is about the whole Arachne thing, I didn't know she was in that golem." Sakkon said. "Honest."

Death shook his head. "This isn't about that. I have a new assignment for you."

"A new assignment?" Sakkon cocked his head questioningly "Must be serious if you're giving it to me all by my lonesome."

"Yes." Death replied "It's dealing with old business. Hollow business."

Sakkon frowned. "You know, I'm not the best guy for that kind of stuff." He swallowed. "I mean, I'm not exactly what you'd call a combat specialist. Couldn't you get Sid to do it?"

"Sid is going to be very busy in the coming months." Death replied, "Counter-intelligence against an organization like Arachne's is no small order of business. Not to mention the fact that he's Ichigo's only contact to the outside world right now."

"Ichigo?" Sakkon blinked "Grim faced, irritable, 'do it on my own' Ichigo?"

"That's the one." Death replied with an amused chuckle. "He's been convinced to return to active duty for at least a short while."

"It's been ages since I last saw the guy in person." Sakkon murmured, a nostalgic smile on his lips. "I doubt he'd recognize me without my original sexy body."

"A side effect of being the only mod soul capable of forced soul reallocation." Death replied, "In any case, your assignment won't be with Ichigo. He's currently working with one of my foremost students."

"Really? Ichigo's doing student mentoring?" Sakkon asked with a curiously raised eyebrow. "Who's the lucky victim?"

"Maka Albarn." Death replied simply "She's going through hollowification, and Ichigo is making sure the correct measures are taken."

"Hollowification?" Sakkon asked incredulously. "Someone's becoming a hollow? Even after the soul transformation project? There shouldn't be any souls left with the capacity to sheer after leaving the body."

"This is true." Death answered, his ocular sockets narrowing thoughtfully. His mask had a comically menacing look to it as he raised one of his enormous hands to pull at the chin of his mask. "I have reason to believe that she's been exposed to something that causes soul sheering artificially."

"Well that's not good." Sakkon noted.

"However, she's Ichigo's concern not yours. " Death said continuing to pull at the chin of his mask. "You will be dealing with another hollowification patient. Her name is Chrona."

"There's another one?" Sakkon asked incredulously

"Yes" Death replied simply. "Chrona's soul has a very odd composition and unpredictable nature to it, but her symptoms in large part point towards some form of soul sheering.

"Which means she's on her way at least." Sakkon frowned "Still, I'm not sure if I'm the best one for this."

Death raised a finger in an annotative gesture. "You are the mod soul that Urahara chose to use as his data repository before he disappeared. Your knowledge of the hollowification process, and the tools needed for its prevention is second to none." If Death's mask had the capacity to register one, it would've had a smirk on it at this moment. "I think you're perfect for the job."

"Well, when you put it that way…" He paused a moment before speaking once more. "I'll do it." Sakkon raised a cautioning finger. "But only on one condition."

If Death had eyebrows one of them would've been raised in curiousity. "And that is?"

"I want my sexy body back."

[-][-][-][-]

Notes From Days Long Past

Research Proposal

[-][-][-][-]

November 26th, 2008

Let me begin by expressing the sincere elation of my bretheren and I at your illustrious return to our realm. Though some of us grew restless awaiting your arrival, I can assure you that I adhered to my duties as head researcher in your absence. It is because of this adherance that a discovery was made during your time away. It deals with one of the long held theories that pertain to soul coalescence.

As I'm certain you're aware, it was hypothesized by one Jacob Arber during his interim in the soul societies that when a soul first coalesces within the beginnings of a new body, it is in the form of the closed soul. However, when the body reaches a fetal stage, the soul then begins attaching itself to its body, using the energies it draws in from its womb, and the environs surrounding said womb to create the many tethers that secure it. It is in this way that the form that we are most familiar with, the "open soul" as Arber called it, comes into being.

It was based on this theory that Urahara's famous mod souls were created. Using artificial birthing units, rudimentry souls were coalesced, having their tethers severed before being removed from the birthing unit. The result of this procedure was a (in most cases) docile soul, which could be manually placed into whatever empty body the mod soul's owner desired.

Slightly altering the basic methodology Urahara used to create mod souls to allow for the use of live subjects as birthing units, I have managed to birth full grown versions of Arber's theoretical closed soul. After running a gamut of tests on these souls, I know that there is much that we can learn from their continued study.

That is the reasoning behind this formal request. I wish to investigate the properties of these souls more closely. Research into the closed soul's energy structure alone has already yielded data that could be used to enhance the resilience of an arrancar's released form. With some more study into specific portions of the closed soul's structural make up and behavior, we may be able to evolve the arrancar into an even higher form.

If you allow me the permission to allow my fraccion to gather the needed materials for the furthering of this research, I guarantee you that that there will be favorable and useful results.

Honor and Glory to you,

Szayel Apollo Grantz

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More to come...

Was it enjoyable?

or perhaps not?

Either way, let me know.

ciao for now.


	9. In Darkest Corners

I do not own Bleach or Soul Eater, nor do I intend to garner any revenues from the use of their characters and universes

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Shinigami Chronicles

Act 1: Hollow Eater

Chapter 9: In Darkest Corners

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Somewhere deep below the surface of the Earth, a strangely shaped castle stood shrouded in cavernous shadows. Not unlike Death City's Shibusen castle, this particular construct also adhered to a stylistic theme in its architecture, though in a slightly subtler manner. Other than the eight leg like extensions that protruded from the castle's base, the rest of its form adhered to a more conventional Gothic structure that tapered upward from from its wide base. Inside, sheer vectors of silk glistened within the artificial light of the castle's many halls, pervading a dark foreboding atmosphere throughout its maze of stone-wrought ramparts. Somewhere deep within this labyrinth of stone, an elegant onyx-haired woman of immutable calm lounged in an enormous, sheer spider's web. The lines of her silk borne throne were echoed in the witch's calculating eyes as they took stock, not only of her surroundings, but of the world itself, from behind the veil of a similarly emblazoned fan.

Before her stood Kyouren, his bandoliers of many colored vials and trinkets exposed for all to see. The light windbreaker that he normally wore lay folded many times over the arm of a rather short man, whose old age was belied in the large grey mustache that lay just below his rather eccentrically sized nose. Indeed his entire form was full of strange proportionalities as his head, just slightly larger than a young child's torso, was just larger than his own chest and abdomen, with arms and legs that were sized to match. Even with the tailed black tuxedo and top-hat he wore, the diminutive man barely breached three feet in height.

It was he who had requested that Kyouren remove his jacket in the presence of Arachne. And while he found the short man's eccentric form amusing, Kyouren knew better than to take his chances with the tiny butler that was managing to stand just outside of his range of view . He'd learned that lesson the hard way a long time ago, and certainly wasn't about to forget it now.

The diminutive butler addressed his mistress from that same position, his age worn voice registering both duty and warmth as he spoke. "I have brought him here as you requested madam Arachne.

"Thank you, Butler" Arachne replied from behind the veil of her fan. "You may return to your duties"

"If it pleases madam, I shall remain here." Butler replied. "This one has yet to give me reason to trust him."

"First Gericko and now you? I just can't catch a break." Kyouren said, giving Butler a look of wounded annoyance. "Doesn't the fact that I fought for witch kind when Soul Society decided to go after them en masse count for anything anymore?"

"Perhaps." Butler returned, clasping his hands behind his back as he circled behind Kyouren. "But we both know that in the end, your allegiance lies not with my mistress." The tiny old manservant smiled venomously "Until you have proven otherwise, I will remain here, just outside your field of vision."

"Aheh." Kyouren gave a humorless laugh before muttering. "Some people just can't let a thing go."

Arachne shook her head in light amusement, eyes hinting at the demure smile she wore behind the veil of her fan. "You'll have to excuse Butler. He only has my best interests in mind." she gave her fan a brief flutter. "After all, you are part of one of the very few unknown factors that has managed to evade my intelligence network for more than a century." Her eyes sobered. "Your patron chose her consorts well."

"I wouldn't say we were 'chosen'." Kyouren replied off-handedly, "Me and the guys are just what was left after Soul Society was destroyed." Kyouren shrugged "We kind of stumbled into our positions."

Arachne's eyes did not waver. "And yet, your services have been retained after all this time. I doubt that was any form of coincidence. Nor do I believe," The arachno-witch continued, maintaining her elegant personage whilst projecting a querying air. "that your presence during my return was an incidental occurrence."

"She said you had a knack for seeing right through people." Kyouren smirked. "Guess that comes from being the center of Arachnephobia's world wide web." The swordsman crossed his arms. "Although I was mostly there to make sure Sakkon didn't die during all of that." He shook his head "Still don't know why she insists on keeping him alive and under watch."

"Nor will you." Arachne replied with a knowing chuckle "And the other portion of the reason for your presence?"

"I think you already know." Kyouren replied simply.

Arachne answered with an almost imperceptible nod "You are the herald to your patron's arrival." She closed her fan with an elegant flourish, unveiling the beguilingly demure smile that graced her lips. The web-like irises of her eyes, subtly disarming in their own way, were almost hypnotic when combined with that calm smile of hers. Kyouren felt himself getting lost in the arachno-witch's gaze, even though he knew the woman had not yet exerted any form mystic compulsion to sway him. It was no wonder Arachne's organization had spawned so many cults around the world after Soul Society fell. The woman had a subtly soothing natural charm and noble elegance. It was easy to get lost in her voice, her smile, her gaze. It was easy to get lost in _her_.

Kyouren bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from doing just that as Arachne continued. "It has been so long since we last spoke." Her eyes gained a nostalgic air to them. "The original patron to all witchkind. The Gorgon Mother."

"I'm not sure if she cares for that title anymore." Kyouren replied "From what I hear, the family's kind of disbanded."

"Medusa's doing." A slight edge of disdain entered Arachne's tone as she spoke her younger sister's name. "For all her talent, she never grew to understand family as the rest of us did." She shook her head. "I doubt she ever will." She closed her eyes introspectively, pausing for a brief moment. "If only to maintain the distinction between my sister and myself, I will continue to refer to our patron as The Gorgon Mother."

"Fair enough" Kyouren said with a grin "I wouldn't want to be lumped in with that crazy woman either."

As he said this, Kyouren felt something jab rather uncomfortably into his back. Although he hadn't necessarily been pierced by the object that was currently resting at the small of his spine, he could tell that it was only for lack trying.

"You will retain a respectful tone when you speak of your betters." Butler intoned.

Although the diminutive manservant had managed to hide it in his tone, Kyouren knew that Butler was still smiling that venomous smile of his. Kyouren hated having people stand at his back. No doubt, Butler was relishing that fact. The swordsman gave Arachne a betrayed look.

That look of betrayal was immediately rescinded when Kyouren saw that Arachne's beguiling expression had changed, becoming something utterly cold and dispassionate as she replied. "For all her problems and her disloyalty, Medusa is still my sister." The arachno-witch re-opened her fan, allowing it to reprise its role as her veil. "You, Kyouren, are not. Do remember this."

Kyouren's blood ran cold with nervous consternation as he stumbled over his reply. "R-right." he stammered "Sure."

Arachne nodded to this. "Good" She then gestured in a shooing fashion with her fan. "Butler, if you would please guide Kyouren to the training grounds."

"Of course madam." Butler replied with a smile.

"Training grounds?" Kyouren asked with some trepidation. "Why there?"

"I believe there is someone there with whom you may have been previously acquainted." the arachno-witch replied, "A certain master of 100 blades."

Kyouren's eyes widened "Captain Mifuune?"

"Yes" Arachne answered with a small nod of affirmation "Although I believe he would prefer not to be referred to as such."

Kyouren grinned, his earlier trepidation completely gone. "Man, it's been centuries. The guys are gonna love this." He chuckled "It'll be just like old times."

As the now increasingly ecstatic swordsman followed Butler out of her chambers. The arachno-witch allowed herself a private, contemplative frown as she began a routine mental scanning of her spider network for new information.

'just like old times'. The statement was rife with naivete. The past could only be relived in memories and dreams. Nothing could ever truly go back to the way it once was.

[-]

Maka sat near the center of a small enclosed room, eyes closed in serene concentration. Her form was veiled in vectors of gold and black, the light from this afternoon's desert sun filtering into the room through a barred window high up on the stone wrought wall behind her. The vectors of light and shadow fell across the young meister's shoulders tracing the striped silhouette of the cell window's barred frame across Maka's still form, continuing across the room's cold stone laden floor to reach the feet of Ichigo, who also sat in a cross-legged stance. His eyes, however, were open and observant, watching the young girl who sat before him very closely.

He was beginning to see why Sid had spoken highly of the girl. In the few meditation sessions and physical exercises he'd taken her through, she had followed his orders to the letter, and given each activity her full attention as she went through with them. There was no point where he felt like the young meister was simply going through the motions, although he could tell that she was not at a hundred percent. He was certain she was just as aware as he was of the fact that only her symptoms had been treated, and that her soul was still in a very dangerous state.

The strength of her soul's...cohesion, if Ichigo remembered the term correctly, seemed to be greater than that of many other souls he'd encountered that were in the throes of hollowification. That could turn out to be advantageous as they moved forward with her treatment and eventual training.

Of course, he wasn't able to actually _see_ her soul in any detailed manner unless it was removed from her body, so he couldn't be too sure about anything.

The young miester hadn't questioned him at all about her condition since he'd first released her from the soul resuscitation unit. No doubt Sid had exercised his influence as a Shibusen alumni to keep the questions to a minimum. Ichigo could only wonder what the blue zombie had said about him when he wasn't looking.

"Stance, Breathing, and concentration all look good." Ichigo said "Shibusen's trained you well Maka."

Maka didn't break her trance to reply to the complement, but the small self-adulative smile that formed on her visage was enough to betray her appreciation.

The expression didn't go unnoticed by Soul, who stood just behind Ichigo, leaning on one of the cell's walls with his shoulder. "Yeah, she's pretty good at the whole trance meditation thing. But she's got two left feet when it comes to jazz."

"Don't make me come over there Soul." Maka growled, her stance and outward appearance of concentration remaining otherwise unperturbed. "I'm not locked to a bed anymore. I _will_ hit you."

"Alright, alright, I'll cool it." Soul replied with a brief chuckle "For now." He sat down next to Ichigo mimicking the old swordsman's cross-legged stance "So what happens next?"

Ichigo closed his eyes for a moment, his lips forming a pensive frown as he crossed his arms. "Maka, how are you feeling?" he asked.

Maka let forth a long sigh as she opened her eyes, exiting the meditative state. "Good enough" She blinked, an edge of uncertainty apparent in her eyes. "Nothing seems wrong at least."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed as a barely murmured "I see." escaped his lips. He turned his gaze to Soul. "Why don't you go and have a seat over there next to Maka. "

The red eyed demon weapon's expression wavered briefly before he shrugged and tossed a brief "Sure." over his shoulder as he migrated over to Maka's side.

As her partner plopped down beside her, Maka pursed her lips, her expression earnest as she spoke.

"Mr. Kurosaki." Maka started in an even voice. "Soul told me that you called what was happening to me 'Hollowification'. What exactly is that?" Her tone darkened "And what can we do about it?

Ichigo flinched. Partially at the honorific being attached to his last name, but mostly at the question being posed before him. He'd been avoiding the subject for awhile now. While this was in part due to the fact that information regarding the hollows was, according to Sid, sensitive, it was mostly for the fact that he just didn't want to broach the subject. He hadn't dealt with the damn things or their ilk for more than a few centuries now. From that perspective, there was a part of him that just didn't want to have to go down that rabbit hole again. As irrational as it sounded, talking about them in any great detail made them real to him again, no longer existing as mere notions from a past that was no longer relevant.

Still, he couldn't deny what was happening right in front of him. Knowing what he knew, knowing what this could lead to, Ichigo felt he had no right to turn away from this. Certainly not when someone else was heading down a similar road to the one he had all those years ago.

Ichigo crossed his arms. "To put it plain, you're becoming a hollow" He closed his eyes. "A damaged soul that needs to feed on other souls to survive. If the transformation completes itself, everything that makes you, you—your memories, likes, dislikes, quirks, emotions—all of it will be gone, replaced with echoes of what they once were and a bare bones instinct to Hunt and to feed." As he said this Ichigo allowed his eyes to open slightly, a grim expression on his visage "When all is said and done you won't even be a vengeful spirit. Just an incomplete soul with an insatiable hunger."

Maka blinked. Ichigo could tell the news had shaken her, but to her credit, the young meister had managed to maintain her resolve. "So what was it I saw in the desert?" She asked "What was I talking to?"

"Another side of yourself" Ichigo answered. "Some element of your soul that's gained self-awareness." Ichigo frowned. "More than likely something you've locked away."

Maka's expression darkened. "Something I've locked away?" her eyes narrowed incredulously, "That doesn't make sense." the young meister shook her head. "I've never done anything like that, mentally or otherwise." she paused, her voice gaining an edge of doubt as she continued, "At least, I don't think I have."

Soul shifted uncomfortably his eyes registering a bit of unwanted familiarity with the situation. "If you did it unconsciously, you might not remember." he tugged at the inside of his cheek for a brief moment, managing to regain his composure as he let it snap back into place. "Could be something your subconscious did while you weren't looking."

Maka scowled at the floor indignantly, "I'd like to think I have more control over my self than that..." Her indignation shifted to incertitude as she let forth a beleaguered sigh. "But if these last few days have been any indication, I obviously don't." the young meister's scowl deepened as a brooding expression formed upon her visage. "At this point I might be worse than Spirit in that area."

"Heh" Soul chuckled, rolling his eyes "At least you've got your priorities straight."

This comment was met with a glare from Maka before the young meister returned her eyes to Ichigo. "So, what do we do Mr. Kurosaki?"

Ichigo let out a belabored breath. "The only thing keeping your hollow in check right now is the soul energy from the resuscitation machine. Once that runs out, the hunger will come back, and the hollow will try and take you again." His expression darkened, "You'll be taken back to your soulscape, and it will be there to meet you. When that happens, you'll need to face it down. Suppress it."

Once again, Maka's discomfort with Ichigo's statements registered briefly in the young meister's eyes. "So no matter what I have to lose myself again?" Her lips formed a grim line. "Let it control me again?"

"Not exactly." Ichigo replied, "You'll have to reach the same soul starved state that you had before, which won't be pleasant. Once you're there, you'll need to go into a meditative trance and seek out your other self in the soulscape." Ichigo crossed his arms. "Preferably before it finds you."

Maka closed her eyes for a brief moment, tilting her head forward in a pensive manner as she considered Ichigo's last statement. "What should I do when I find it?"

The old swordsman sat silently for a moment, knowing the answer to Maka's question but searching for the proper words to phrase it. "You've got to show it that you can't be easily controlled." He started, "Show it that it's a waste of time to try." He uncrossed his arms. "That might sound like a tall order when you consider the weakened state you'll be in, but it can't use any more of your soul to fight you than you can to fight it. With that in mind, the fight won't end until one of you gives in to the other." the old swordsman paused for a moment, his expression solidifying into a portrait of grim severity. "Whatever you do, make sure you're not the one who does."

At some point during Ichigo's reply, Soul's aloof smirk had dissolved, leaving a slightly annoyed downturn in the left edge of his lips. "Sounds pretty rough." Soul half-murmured, looking to his partner expectantly. "You think you're up to this?"

"Doesn't matter if I am." Maka answered resolutely, "I have to do this now. I'm not about to let myself become one of the monsters we fight." The young meister's eyes narrowed darkly. "I don't want you to have to hunt me Soul."

"Don't worry I won't have to." Soul returned, reprising his self-assured smirk as he dropped a reassuring hand on his partner's shoulder. "I know you can do it."

"Actually, Soul" Ichigo started, "I'm gonna need your help on this as well."

"Yeah?" The demon weapon asked, trying to mute his eagerness to do so under his usual bravado. He didn't do quite so good a job of it this time.

"Yeah." Ichigo answered, "I'm gonna assume you've done team meditation sessions before, right?"

"Sure." Soul said with a knowing nod, "I was just about to ask if that would help actually."

"Oh, it will." Ichigo replied with a nostalgic smile, remembering a time when Rukia had done the same for him. "At the very least it'll keep the other from taking control before she has a chance to face it directly."

Soul frowned. "Isn't there something else I can do? Something more direct?"

"Not really." Ichigo answered with a shake of the head. "This is her fight. The best thing you can do is keep the faith and wait."

Soul rolled his eyes "Seems like that's all I've been doing."

"Yeah I know." Ichigo replied humorlessly. "But that's the nature of it. The soul has to save itself where hollowification is concerned." He turned his gaze to Maka. "Any other method will only have temporary results."

Maka nodded, "I'll do my best Mr. Kurosaki."

At this Ichigo let forth a great sigh. "Please, just call me Ichigo." he brought a beleaguered hand to his brow, "You're making me feel old."

"R-right" the young meister replied sheepishly, somewhat caught off guard by the request. Her voice regained its composure with a precursory clearing of the throat "Of course Mr. Ichigo"

Another more guarded sigh came forth from Ichigo as Soul chuckled at his partner's polite insistence. The old swordsman shook his head in amused exasperation muttering under his breath. "Sure, that'll do for now."

[-]

As Ichigo and Soul made their final preparations for Maka's return to her soulscape, Blair, who had been watching from a dark corner of the room, left to make her own personal preparations. Specifically grabbing a few moments of rest under the sun's gaze on a rather large pumpkin she had summoned. She lay there in human form, with most of her skin visible due to her preferred threadbare form of attire. Only her amethyst eyes were hidden from the sun's rays, a classic witch's hat providing shade for her still vaguely cattish face. Absorbing the late morning desert heat, her mind began to wander, lilting from subject to subject until she came to focus on the matter of a certain orange-haired swordsman.

To be honest, she didn't really know why she was choosing to stay in cat form whenever Ichigo was around. It just seemed like the thing to do, and she wasn't one to question her own instincts. It didn't hurt that it allowed her to rest in the man's poofy orange mane.

In truth the hair was the first thing about the old swordsman to grab her attention. So perky and full. Like a small multifilament pumpkin constructed from strands of human hair. It looked so tantalizing. So bright and lush. The cat witch had wanted very much to cuddle up to it when she'd first laid eyes upon it.

However, it couldn't be said that she hadn't found the man to which it was attached to be somewhat intriguing as well. His sad, serious demeanor reminded her of Spirit—another man she enjoyed observing and toying with—in some ways. Both seemed rather tired of life although Ichigo didn't appear to be quite as broken a man as Spirit was. For Spirit the only thing he had was hope and faith in those that he felt were better than himself in one way or another. He clung to that hope like a child to his mother's leg, taking it as his only comfort in a world that he felt was slowly drifting away from him. Without that the true state of his soul, a beautifully hopeless and vacant yet directed existence, would be unveiled. Were it not for the presence of his daughter Maka, he more than likely would've become a weapon and nothing more. It was for her sake that he continued to hold on to his hope. If only Maka could've let herself realize that.

It was the fact that Ichigo seemed like he was holding on to something that made the orange haired swordsman similar to Spirit, although she wasn't sure what it was Ichigo was holding on to, or for whom he held to it for. She was certain it wasn't any form of hope as the beleaguered acceptance that he emanated eschewed away from any form of wishful thinking.

Like Spirit it seemed Ichigo had lost his way at some point. However, Ichigo seemed content with not being able to find that road again. Perhaps he was even avoiding that road at all costs. Certainly not the happiest of ways to live one's life.

That kind of self imposed negativity was generally unattractive. But there was something else. Something beyond Ichigo's somber exterior that intrigued her. Something fervent, determined, and passionate, perhaps even angry.

It was there in his eyes. Burbling stalwartly behind them, hidden from the rest of the world. It pulled at her when she looked at them. It sent chills through her every time she gazed upon them. Anxious, lust driven shivers akin to those that accompanied the touch of any who particularly peaked the cat-witch's interest. An extra spice of fear was woven within these shudders, though she wasn't quite sure why. That mystery only heightened the orange haired swordsman's allure...

Rolling over to expose her back to the sun's grinning rays, she found her gaze resting upon a familiar face, wreathed in errant unkempt locks of red hair, a guilty smile apparent on his visage as his eyes swept across Blair's lounging form.

"Hello, Spirit" she said with a suggestive smirk "Do you like what you see?"

Spirit tried his best to remove his eyes from the luscious body that lay before him. His guilty pleasure lost its edge of enjoyment leaving only guilt as he found that he could not. "You already know the answer to that." Spirit said with a dejected sigh.

"True" Blair replied with a mischievous tilt of the head, her tail frisking idly about. "But I like hearing it from you."

Spirit let forth another sigh, bringing a beleaguered hand to his head. "I really shouldn't. But I do."

Blair's smile gained a contented air to it as she propped her head up on her forearms. "That's what I like about you Spirit. You're honest about your instincts. About your desires."

"I have a hard time restraining them." Spirit replied darkly. "It's why I lost... her." The red haired scythe went silent after saying this, his eyes closing tightly as his frown further deepened.

Blair shook her head. For all his power as a death scythe, the man was rather vulnerable emotionally. It was debatable whether he would ever get over the loss of his ex-wife. That sensitivity was at once his most endearing and annoying trait. And though there were times when she enjoyed his displays of misery, Blair was not in a consoling mood today. Perhaps if she changed the subject.

"Well, I know you didn't come all the way out here just to see me." Blair started as she rose to a sitting position "What brings you to this side of the desert?"

Spirit, realizing sheepishly that he'd distracted himself cleared his throat "I've been assigned to the facility that's on the side of this cliff." Spirit said simply, taking on a more cool and collected expression. "With Sid running counter-intelligence against Arachne, Shinigami-sama wanted me to take his place here." the death scythe scratched his head idly. "He said I'd know why as soon as I arrived."

Now here was something of interest.

"Is that how he put it?" Blair said tilting her head curiously "Awfully coy of him."

"Well you know Shinigami." Spirit replied donning a devil may care smile. "He likes his surprises."

"Well then," Blair replied with a knowing smile as she reverted to cat form and started on her way to the facility. "Let's see what you think of his 'surprise'."

[-]

Meanwhile in Maka's holding cell, the young meister waited motionlessly in deep meditation, her partner, Soul, beside her, also in a meditative state, synchronized with his meister. Ichigo was looking on from just in front of the only door out of the room. If this didn't work, and Maka did lose control, he was going to make sure she didn't get the chance to escape. With any luck, he'd be able to do that without resorting to lethal methods.

Maka swallowed as she maintained her cross-legged position across from Soul, regulating the frequency of her soul. She could feel the hunger inching its way back into the forefront of her consciousness with each passing second. Prickling pangs of energy and blood deprivation steadily encroached in time with the growth of this hunger, slowly but surely marching towards her center. With each passing second the needle-like pangs increased in intensity, leeching away the young meister's lucidity with each growth.

A familiar haze began creeping into her mind, her defacto grasp on where she was and what she was doing becoming difficult to discern. This increasing incertitude ground heavily on her already wavering concentration, a development that Soul caught on to quickly. The demon weapon grasped his partner's hand in his own redoubling his efforts to match his frequency to hers. "I've gotcha Maka." he murmured. "I've gotcha."

It was a gesture Maka was glad for, as she used her partner's soul as an anchoring point, focusing on his wavelength to stabilize her own and maintain the meditative state.

In time the pangs had engulfed the entirety of her body, everything aching for sustenance. Was this how Soul had felt when he was deep in the throes of a thirst for souls? If so, it was no wonder he'd been addicted to them in the past. It was a wonder she'd managed to curb his desire for them at all if this was what it was like.

Suddenly, the pain was gone. So too were all of the tacit forms of feeling that denoted the reality she was certain she had just left. Indeed, she was no longer sitting, but standing, Soul's hand no longer in hers, his presence no longer even palpable. Tenuously, she opened her eyes to a world she was all too familiar with.

Sundry fronds lay upon soil of ochre, whose countenance was adorned with the black rivers of shadow that projected from the weary forest's naked branches. The light of the moon was as before, lifeless and haunting, casting its emotionless light upon this domain of mahogany and night. A cool sharp breeze bit at her skin as the leaves began their familiar whirling dance, lilting about on the currents of the wind as Maka struck forth into the withering forest's confines.

In truth she had no idea where she was going. Neither the faceless Moon or the wind quivered shadows of the trees held any answers for her. But for the wind that shook those shadows and brought life to the autumn hued foliage around her she would not have had even an inkling of where to go. It was these currents of air that guided her though the rivers of shadow that ruled these woods.

She did not, however, give herself entirely to the will of the wind as she had once before, controlling her gait so as to walk with the gentle gale, though its playful gusts implored that she dance in within the flow of its wavering breaths.

In seconds that may have been minutes or perhaps hours that may have been moments, the young meister found herself in a familiar clearing, the limpid gaze of the moon imparting its empty luster upon what appeared to be the only patch of living grass in the entirety of the soulscape. The guiding breeze fell silent as she entered the luminescent clearing, the sundry leaves that were once held aloft by the whims of that coltish gale ceasing their marshaling dance.

There in the center of that verdant space sat a familiar white specter, perched casually upon a modestly sized stone, Amethyst eyes watching the young meister with great interest. The white other smiled a smug little grin as it greeted its pig-tailed counterpart.

"Welcome back, Maka" the other said with a grand gesture.

Maka didn't bother to return the greeting. "You've been waiting here for me."

The specter hopped down from the stone, dusting off the mint-ivory patterns of its plaid skirt in the process. "Well, I didn't have much choice, now did I?"

Maka entered cautiously into the clearing, warily watching her white-haired counterpart all the while. "As a figment of my mind?"

The other shook its head chidingly. "As a figment of you Maka."

This statement garnered a puzzled look from the young meister. "Isn't that the same thing?"

"I don't think so." the other replied, shaking its head once more. "Considering that one is real and the other is not" It cocked its head in a bemused manner "The real question here is, which one?" The specter asked as it locked its querying gaze with Maka's. "The mind or the figment?"

"What?" Maka frowned confusedly "Wait what-"

"About you?" The other finished as it turned away from the young meister with a brief chuckle, . "Oh no, you're not real."

Maka balked at this, bold faced incredulity written all over her visage as she replied "What do you mean I'm not real!?" She made an indicative gesture towards herself as she continued "This is my soul!"

"Really?" The other returned with a knowing smile. "If that's the case, why is it so unfamiliar to you?"

Maka opened her mouth to make a reply to the other's leading question, but found that she could not form an effective answer. Silently, she stood, clenching her fists tightly as she rifled through the annals of her thoughts for one.

The white haired apparition's smile did not waver as it returned its gaze to the young meister before it. "You had to be guided to even get here. If this really were your soul, you'd have had no trouble finding this place." It snorted derisively "or me."

Maka frowned in irritation. "Then how did _you_ find this place?"

The apparition's smile broadened as it began to walk in a casual gate, circling it's counterpart as it replied matter of factly. "This is my soul Maka. How could I not know where this place was?"

"This is _not_ your soul." Maka returned darkly.

The apparition's expression gained a smug air to it. "Then who's soul is it then?" The apparition said with scoffing laughter "It certainly isn't yours." It jeered. "Not when you aren't even real."

As it said this the amber eyed other ceased its cyclical motion locking its gaze with Maka's. Maka, whose emerald eyes burned with indignation at the white other's statements, opened her mouth to make a spirited reply, only to find that she could not command it to do so. Neither her lips nor her tongue deigned to adhere to her request to make them function, as it appeared that she had forgotten how to even flex the muscles that comprised them.

Suddenly, the world around her became hazy and indistinct, the blades of grass in the clearing becoming one great mass of veridian, as the surrounding forest's trees became indistinguishable from the very shadows that they cast.

The young meister staggered backwards in surprise at these developments, finding that even her sense of balance had become unreliable, as she barely managed to catch herself before falling to the ground on her rump. Even without the ability to truly see it's body posture or expression, Maka knew that the white other was grinning its cocky grin, no doubt relishing in its counterpart's current state of helplessness.

And though she wanted greatly to give a sharp rebuttal to the other's silent jeering, she found that it took almost all of her focus just to rediscover how to use her mouth again. Her words were slurred and strangely unfamiliar to her tongue as she found the breath to voice her confusion.

"U g h" She managed, clutching her chest as she realized that in remembering how to speak she was forgetting how to breathe. "W h at ? " she managed through increasingly strangled breaths "W h at i s. . .? "

"Your soul's suffocating." the white haired other chuckled "It's too bad, really. If we hadn't spent all that time talking you might have had enough energy to be able to put up a fight." It shrugged "Didn't even get a chance to guess at my name this time."

Maka's tongue was beginning to grow numb as she fought to muster up enough oxygen to even form one word. ". .. Y o u" she hissed, the word coming out as barely even a whisper as the young meister began to choke on the very air she so desperately needed. She could only glare angrily at the white other's amusement as it watched her continued struggle to exist.

It smirked. "Looks like your time's just about up." the other noted as it knelt down to Maka's level and lifted her head up by the chin. "But don't worry. I'll take good care of us when I wake up." It chuckled derisively as it released its grip upon Maka's head, allowing her to fall to the ground with a dull thud. And as the young meister's consciousness faded to the ether, her sight blurring more with each passing second, she could just perceive her counterpart as it made to leave the forest clearing as it tossed a casual "Ciao" over it's shoulder.

Anger was all she had left as darkness took her once again.

[-][-][-][-]

Notes from days long past

Vaizard Treatment Orders

[-][-][-][-]

As of today we will be beginning the Vaizard treatment programs in earnest. With the recent acceptance of one Rojuro Otoribashi of the terms of a vaizard's return to soul society I, Kurosotchi Mayuri, have been given the duty of developing a proper treatment program to make him and his cohorts fit for duty once more. I would have much preferred if they hadn't readily agreed to it. At least then I wouldn't have any silly rules of humane treatment to adhere to with regards to the nature of the methods I use to divine exactly what needs to be done to return them to their original state. Not to mention the various essential quantitative explorations that have yet to be visited upon souls of the vaizard type. Alas they must live to tell the tale.

This comes at a rather inopportune time, as I believe the study of these new closed souls that have begun to appear should take precedent. There is much that can be learned about and from them. With the proper eyes and methods of course. The rest of soul society has no knowledge of their existence, and will not know of them until my analysis and purposing of them is complete. Unfortunately, I do not know how long even I can keep their existence a secret. The work will have to be quick, precise, and unmerciful if all there is to be divined from them is to be discovered before that time. It is a task that I believe only a researcher of my temperament could manage.

For this reason, my personal attention will not be afforded to the research of the conditions of Otoribashi and the constituents that will invariably follow his example. Under normal circumstances this would be an assignment for Nemu, however it is still indisposed after Szayel had his way with it during the Aizen debacle. So, you will have to suffice. You will report to me their progress and enact the measures that I tell you. You will not interact with them in any way that I do not tell you to. Nor will you report directly to any member of Soul Society. I will prepare responses for you should such a time arise that you must interface with them. Above all else, do not remove the implements that I have created for you. You will surely die if you do. If not by their hands, certainly by mine. And no, you are not removed from the duties you had previous. This is simply another task you must undertake.

Do not fail. Your life depends on it. As always.

[-][-][-][-]

More to Come...

Was it enjoyable?

Or perhaps not?

Yea or nea, let me know.


End file.
